


Suffocating on Essence

by Namithegaylord



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha Bokuto Koutarou, Alpha Iwaizumi Hajime, Alpha Kuroo Tetsurou, Alpha Sawamura Daichi, Alternate Universe - Art School, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anxiety Attacks, Attempt at Humor, Beta Azumane Asahi, Beta Hanamaki Takahiro, Beta Kageyama Tobio, Beta Matsukawa Issei, Beta Nishinoya Yuu, Beta Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Beta Tsukishima Kei, Beta Yamaguchi Tadashi, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma Friendship, Hurt Hinata Shouyou, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jealous Bokuto Koutarou, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Tease, M/M, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Not Beta Read, Oblivious Hinata Shouyou, Omega Akaashi Keiji, Omega Hinata Shouyou, Omega Kozume Kenma, Omega Oikawa Tooru, Omega Sugawara Koushi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Polyamory, Possessive Behavior, Protective Pack, Why Did I Write This?, everyone has a different form of art, fuck it this is a train to hell and y'all finna be in for a ride, hinata has a praise kink but doesn't know it yet, im sorry but hinata's mom is a piece of shit, kinda slow burn, the rating will change when i bring on the sexy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:33:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namithegaylord/pseuds/Namithegaylord
Summary: A crow in a cage is broken.A broken crow chirps in a prison.A caged crow is freed by a black cat.A scared crow learns to fly thanks to an owl.A crow is accepted into a murder.A crow finds that family doesn't mean you have the same blood, it means you're bound by the same love.yeah this summary is edgy, and also this story is a dumpster fire and will include certain things from the manga but no spoilers for said manga. more tags will be added as we progress. Everyone has a foul mouth on occasion.
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou/Hinata Shouyou, Bokuto Koutarou/Hinata Shouyou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Hinata Shouyou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 93
Kudos: 252
Collections: Basically Kagehina





	1. ohmygod they were packmates

The absence of something, is nothing. If someone hides something for long enough, they eventually forget of its very existence. Though they may forget, the object still remains, waiting to be remembered. Four walls made up a decrepit room, inching closer on a shivering lifeform. Heat radiated from the tiny body as he turned to his side, curling further into himself. His heartbeat echoed in the eerie silence, slowly at first until the room shook, the walls sneering as they began to fall atop the boy and then— He sat up quickly, his heart pounding in his ears, taunting his brain as his lungs tried to catch up. His chocolate eyes held a tinge of a brighter color as he laid a hand on the bottom of his stomach. He tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to release the heat that buzzed beneath his skin only to fall back onto the floor. He lifted a small hand towards the ceiling, his heart slowing as he licked his cracked lips. A raspy voice escaped his mouth. “The tall walls loom on either side of me. I wonder what the view is like from the outside?” He smiled as he brought his hand back down. _“A room cannot talk, idiot.”_ He closed his eyes, focusing his energy on his breathing until he finally pulled himself back to sleep.

A loud slam woke him up a few hours later, the walls groaning in protest as their wood met the metal handle of the door. “Get up.” A voice laced with ice spat at him, and he had to choke back the smile that quirked up the edges of his lips. His mother was as predictable as ever. Never giving him more words than she deemed necessary. Sitting up from the floor he stretched his arms above his head, his eyes flicking towards the woman who had hatred written all over her face as she met his gaze back. He let his arms fall back to his side and turned his attention to the suitcase and the duffel bag he had stacked in the corner. “Hurry the fuck up, omega.” The ice in her voice had sharpened and stabbed him and this time he couldn’t help the smile that found its way onto his lips. She couldn’t even use his name anymore. Was it that upsetting to have an omega for a son? Or was it just upsetting that he was her son? A sigh left him as he put on his shoes, having slept in the clothes he was going to wear to his new destination. He grabbed the bag and threw it over his shoulder, rolling the suitcase in front of him. He stopped in front of the taller woman who looked him over for a second before reaching forward and grabbing his throat, her nails digging in the sides of his flesh as she put a leather choker with spikes around his neck. He winced as needles sank into his skin, cutting off any scent he would have released. The alpha let him go and pushed him back with a sneer before moving out of the doorway. Without another glance he walked past her, refusing to give her the satisfaction of rubbing the marks she left behind. Faintly he heard his sister laughing, chattering happily on the phone in her room, his eyes misting over for a few seconds before he shook his head, his hair falling in front of his face with the action.

He needed to shower, but he could do that at the college he was going to, the escape he had been offered. He held his free hand up as he walked into the sunlight, his eyes adjusting to the sight of the bright world around him and he froze, contemplating looking back at the place he had stayed for most of his life before his legs did the thinking for him. He took one step, and then another, his hand grabbing the suitcase as he picked up the pace, the wind kissing the sides of his skin as he left the darkness in the building behind him, stopping once on the sidewalk to catch his breath. His body gulped down the fresh air and he pressed his fingertips to his lips, pulling on the excess skin that was there before he reached into his duffel bag and pulled out the object he was searching for. The phone light was dim beneath the sun and he looked at the time before stuffing it back in the bag. He had more than enough time to make it to the college. He resumed his trek and rubbed his cheek, wondering what it would be like and if he would make a friend or two. Briefly he wondered if he would come across another male omega like him but he dismissed the thought quickly. According to his mother, omegas were already an uncommon sight, and a male omega was an even bigger rarity. Alphas were more common, and even though they were still not the most common, they ruled the world. The most common were the betas. They were teeming everywhere, and had their hands in everything. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he thought about his own gender. If he had presented as beta, if his eyes had flashed silver instead of violet, would he have been allowed to have been a part of the family again? A cold shiver ran down his spine as he thought of red eyes peering at him with disgust and he sat up straighter as he got on the train, grateful that there were less people than usual as he sat down on the cold plastic seat and put his suitcase next to him. He brought his legs up on the chair and crossed them, his duffel bag sitting on top of his legs. His bangs dropped in front of his eyes again and he pulled out his phone, peering around the train before he flipped open his phone, checking the time once again. He absentmindedly looked at the papers in his bag and pulled them out, looking at his dorm and his schedule, anxiety beginning to bubble beneath his exterior. There was so much he didn’t know and he wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do with this information overload that the papers gave him. He had never been allowed to do anything by himself and now not only was he going to a completely new city by himself, but he was going to be living with a bunch of people he didn’t know. An uneasy whine threatened to spill from his lips but he choked it down, hyper-aware that he wasn’t alone on the train. His body wanted to release distressed pheromones but the needles poked harder in his neck, and a cough wracked his body, a hand clawing at the leather. His eyebrows furrowed together as his panic started to rise and he tried to calm himself down, biting on his bottom lip with enough force to instantaneously taste copper. His lungs were burning as he refrained from gasping for the air that he desperately needed, leaning his head towards his duffel bag he tried to make himself smaller in an attempt to calm himself down but to no avail. Frustration at his own helplessness built up and he dug his nails into his arm, drops of blood still making their way into his mouth. His eyes darted around the train, looking for ways to escape before the distinct smell of apples filled his nostrils and he whipped his head around to the seat across from him, brown eyes widening as the realization that he had bothered someone hit him and he dug his nails further into his skin. He nodded to the male in front of him, looking at his black and blonde hair that was messily in a bun and opened his mouth to apologize as he pasted a smile on. “Sorry, I’m not used to being by myself on this thing.” His voice was shaky but he passed it off by laughing, retracting the claws that broke his pale skin, the pain having grounded him, and he took in a deep breath, the scent of apples still strong as he soaked in the scent, the smell seemed to relieve his panic and he wanted to drink it in for as long as he could. The stranger just let out a quiet hum, his eyes never leaving the device in front of him, the lights reflecting on his golden eyes. “I’m Hinata Shouyou! Sorry again for bothering you. Actually I’m not quite sure why I told you my name, I won’t ever see you again. Isn’t that kind of sad?” Almost as if he knew that he had helped due to incessant chatter now filling the train, the smell of apples gradually faded and the unnamed strangers eyes left the device to witness the biggest horror that he had ever come face to face with, his mouth dropping open as he watched the boy who had just been in flight mode flip open a phone in front of him. Flip. A phone. A travesty. An undeniable horror. This was a bigger crime than when he had come home to one slice of apple pie instead of two. His fist clenched on the side of him and he flicked his eyes towards the doors as the train pulled into a stop and the smaller boy gathered up his things giving him another smile and stepped onto the platform.

Before Hinata walked away he heard a soft voice behind him. “Kenma.” He whirled around, putting a hand on his duffel bag to keep it from hitting the boy who had spoken. “Kozume.” He spoke again, and Hinata vibrated with excitement, clapping his hands together as yet another smile played on his lips. “It’s very nice to meet you Kenma! Thanks for everything!” Nervous laughter spilled from his lips as he scratched the side of his cheek and looked at his phone again, having a few more hours to get to the school. “Are you walking in the direction of Furudate Academy of the Arts by any chance?” He closed one eye looking at Kenma. “I may or may not have never been to this city ever in my life.” Kenma’s golden eyes watched him carefully, and he opened his mouth as he shook his head, but caught a glimpse of the flip phone in Hinata’s hand, a sigh leaving his mouth. Hinata looked at his phone with confusion before looking back at Kenma who jerked his head and began walking off. Hinata clapped loudly again and grabbed his stuff, following behind the other boy excitedly as he animatedly began thanking him, making sure to keep just a few feet behind him as they walked in what they both assumed was the direction of the school. Hinata’s chatter stopped when Kenma also stopped, watching as the black haired boy turned his head to the sides slowly before heaving a loud sigh and leaning against the corner of the nearest building as he pulled out his own phone and typed something before an even louder sigh left his mouth and he turned his cat like eyes to Hinata. “My GPS isn’t working.” Hinata kept his attention on him, quiet as he touched the dried blood from his claws on his arm, anxiety threatening to make an appearance. Kenma stayed silent for a few more moments before he put his phone back in front of his face and then next to his ear. “Kuro? I’m lost.” Hinata heard loud laughter and watched Kenma’s bottom lip pucker out as his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. “Come get me and Shouyou. We’re..” He paused as he looked around, his head barely moving as his eyes absorbed the information around him. “Not by the school.” Was the answer he finally gave and more loud laughing was heard. Hinata was struggling to keep his own giggles down as he peered over at the buildings, realizing they all looked the same and pointed his observations out to Kenma who repeated the information to the man on the phone before hanging up. Hinata brought his fingers up to his lip again as he tugged on the skin, before he bowed his head to Kenma. “I’m sorry. Again.” He was quieter as he sank back away from the people passing by them and Kenma’s eyes followed him. “It happens.” Hinata brightened for a moment and he brought his fingers down from his mouth, bits of red staining where he had been pulled his skin off. Kenma’s eyes flicked down to his neck before back up at his face and his eyes widened slightly as if he had figured out a question he had been asking himself. “Say Kenma? How come you smelled like apples on the train? It was like..super calming. I just like waaaah you know?” Kenma in fact did not know and it was evident by the way his nose scrunched up and he raised his eyebrows. “Waaah? I melted! Geez doesn’t that sound like melting?” Oh. Shouyou was an idiot. Kenma rubbed his nose at the realization and took in his question again. “I’m an omega. You seemed to be in distress. I just did what any other omega would do.” It was kind of hard to explain something he did without thinking. “You’re an omega too aren’t you? Shouldn’t you know about this?” Hinata blinked his round eyes, retaining the information he was given before his eyes widened further and the pools of chocolate filled with water. “I- you-? I haven’t-” His eyes shimmered with tears that threatened to spill and he shakily pointed to himself and held up his index finger and then pointed to Kenma and held up his middle finger with his index. Kenma’s golden eyes glittered as he tried to decode the message. His eyebrows shot up and he put his own finger out. “I’m the second male omega you’ve met?” Hinata shook his head furiously as he rubbed his eyes, keeping the tears unshed as he took a breath in. “You’re the first omega I’ve met. I can’t really meet myself so I guess I don’t really count as one.” He laughed lightly and averted his eyes. “I’m not quite sure how to be one anyway.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He opened his mouth to apologize when he turned his head back to Kenma whose eyes were filled with something akin to shock, though his face relayed nothing else but a clenched jaw. “Are you angry at me?” Worry laced Hinata’s voice and he stepped back from Kenma who immediately refuted the statement. “Not at you, no.” Relief flooded Hinata and he let out a breath, about to ask who he was angry at if not him when a horn sounded on the side of them and Kenma cocked his head. “That’s our ride.”

Hinata grabbed his suitcase and put his hand out to touch Kenma but retracted his hand immediately when he saw all doors of the van open and heard Kenma click his tongue loudly. “He should have just brought himself. Such a hassle.” He turned to Hinata. “Prepare yourself.” That was all the warning he got before the barking laugh he had heard on the phone was in full force. “Yo, Kenma. You said you had someone else with you and they didn’t believe you so we came to see who you picked up.” Hinata’s eyes flicked to where the voice was coming from and saw a man with black hair sticking up on one side, a lazy smirk on his face as he walked towards them. His hazel eyes met Hinata’s and the smirk widened. “Two lost kittens indeed.” Hinata stilled and Kenma rolled his eyes. “Kittens?!” An excited screech was heard and Hinata’s attention was ripped away to a man with peppered hair spiked up tensing as he came to a halt and frowned. “Those are people, Kuroo.” Another barking laugh left Kuroo’s mouth. “All I see are cute kitties, Bokuto.” Bokuto’s frown deepened as he turned his attention towards Hinata and Kenma, searching for evidence of either of them being cats. His golden eyes narrowed on Hinata and before he could stop himself Hinata tilted his head to the side. “Meow?” He said softly and Bokuto’s eyes lit up as he slapped Kuroo’s back excitedly. “OhmyGOD Kuroo you were right! He MEOWED!” Hinata turned his head to hide his smile behind Kenma who covered up a snicker with his hand. “Is it necessary for you to be so loud?” A tired voice asked as another one joined him. “Daichi they’re just excited. It would have been ten times worse if Tanaka and Nishinoya had joined.” This voice was softer and Hinata relaxed at the sound of it, a sign that did not go unnoticed by Kenma, who faintly smiled. “That’s Sugawara. He’s another omega.” Hinata’s eyes widened and he strained his neck to see the new omega who stepped out from behind the van, his arm interlocked with who Hinata assumed was Daichi and his breath got stuck in his throat. Wispy silver hair fluttered in the wind, a smile gracing his lips, his beauty mark beneath his eyes unbothered. And his eyes. His hazel eyes were filled with an emotion Hinata hadn’t seen in such a long time. Kindness. A hand on his arm tore his attention away from the breathtaking omega and he looked at Kenma whose eyes spoke with understanding as he laid a small hand on his cheek, and pulled it back to show that it was wet. Oh. Hinata hadn’t realized his eyes had been leaking fluid until this moment and his face tinged pink as he stepped back to wipe his eyes. Before he could move, the scent of lavender filled his senses and he blinked slowly as his brain registered that Sugawara was in front of him, his eyes filled with worry. Worry for him? He was a stranger. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked to Kenma who still had a grip on his arm. “Omega thing. I told you.” Sugawara looked at Kenma as well who in turn answered the question before it was even asked. “Hinata has never met another omega until me. Meeting you makes two. In his entire life.” He stressed the last part and then pointed to his neck. “Guess why you can’t smell him?” He murmured the last part so Hinata couldn’t hear him but Sugawara could. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Sugawara’s voice was mixed with shock and another emotion Hinata couldn’t quite place. Both pairs of eyes turned towards him and his nostrils were filled with lavender and apples as they put their hands on either of his arms and looked at the other three men who stood by watching. “Uh Suga?” Sugawara turned his attention to Daichi who looked down at Hinata’s arm. “He’s bleeding so you probably shouldn’t hold onto him so tightly.” A gasp left Sugawara’s mouth as he looked down at his arm and Hinata quickly tried to shake his hands. “No no That’s from earlier! It’s all dry now.” He plastered a smile on his face to placate the look Sugawara was giving him. “Earlier?” A hint of anger entered the taller omegas voice and Hinata looked at Kenma who sighed. “He did it to himself on the train.” That was all the explanation he gave and Hinata smiled gratefully. “Why would-” A look from Sugawara and Kenma both cut off Bokuto before he finished the question and he held his hands up in surrender. “Yo small one, do you have a name?” Kuroo asked loudly and Hinata scoffed. “It definitely isn’t small one, and I know Kenma said my first name on the phone to you.” He huffed, his bottom lip jutting out. Kuroo smirk grew wider as he took a step forward towards the three omegas. Hinata stiffened and averted his eyes to the side, looking at Kenma for courage. He didn’t know why. There was something about both Kenma and Sugawara that made him want to trust them instantly. As if they couldn’t harm him. Kenma’s eyes never left his and Hinata swallowed as he opened his mouth again, his voice softer. “Hinata Shouyou.” The pressure on both of his arms increased and he looked at Sugawara and Kenma who gave him small nods. “Good boy.” Hinata whipped his head around as a shiver trickled down his neck towards his spine at the praise, his eyes shining as he looked at the man who had spoken the words. Kuroo’s eyes gleamed with emotions Hinata couldn’t read and Hinata tilted his head to the side, unsure of how he was supposed to respond before loud clapping broke. “That’s enough.” The brown haired man turned his attention to Hinata. “It’s nice to meet you Hinata. I’m Sawamura Daichi. I’m in charge of these young whippersnappers.” He gestured vaguely around and Bokuto laughed loudly. “You’re the same age as us. Well at least the same age as me, and Suga and Kuroo.” He paused as he looked at his hands and then counted on his fingers to make sure that he had been correct. Kuroo nodded his head sagely as he put his arm around Daichi’s neck. “Listen Bokuto, if gramps here wants to act like he’s past his prime, let him.” Daichi’s eyebrow twitched and he forced a smile on his face. “Is this coming from the man who always requests to eat fish when we go out somewhere.” Kuroo pulled back in mock surprise, a loud gasp leaving his mouth as he put a hand on his hip. “Don’t you know how good Docosahexaenoic acid is for you? Considering that I’ve told you many times and you continue to ignore me, your opinion on my eating habits doesn’t hold much validity.” He huffed loudly and turned away before freezing as Daichi let out a small chuckle. A shiver ran down everyone’s spine and Hinata looked at them all worriedly as the air seemed to shift and drop a few degrees. Kenma stiffened next to him and tightened his grip ever so slightly on his arm. Only Sugawara remained unaffected after the first initial shiver. “Daichi.” His tone was gentle. “Shouldn’t we be getting Hinata and Kenma back to the school?” Daichi stared at Kuroo for a beat or two longer before he turned his attention onto Sugawara. “You are absolutely right. Hinata, do you know where you’re staying at?” His eyes looked down at the smaller boy who tilted his head again before realization flickered over his features. “I’m in a room, probably?” He let his hand on his suitcase drop and felt Sugawara release him as he reached forward and rummaged in his duffel bag, taking out crumpled papers. He squinted as he tried to decipher the contents on each page before he looked up, a small smile on his face. “I’m definitely in a room.” He put the papers back in his bag. “I’m sure I’ll find it as soon as I find the school.” This time he smiled bigger, aiming to direct any more questions away from the topic. “Can you point me to it?”

Kenma huffed and tugged on his arm, pointing to the van. “You’re riding with us.” Hinata’s eyes widened. “Can I fit?” He whisper screamed, intending for only Kenma to hear the question but realized his whisper came out louder than expected as he heard laughter from everyone around him, including Kenma. “Shouyou, this is a pack van. And even if it wasn’t you would definitely still be able to fit.” Hinata’s face flushed red as he scrunched his nose up and moved Kenma’s hand off of him. “Traitor.” He mumbled as he grabbed his suitcase and walked towards the van. “Wait. You’re in a pack?” He put a finger on his nose. “Together?” Bokuto nodded excitedly as he walked towards Hinata. “There are even more of us at the school! We all just kind of ended up together. It’ll make sense when you meet the rest of us.” Hinata shrunk back as he looked at Kenma and Sugawara. “I don’t want to be a slave.” Sugawara’s eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently. “No. No no NO, Hinata. That is **NOT** how packs work. Anymore at least. This isn’t a harem. Who the fuck told you-” He cut himself off and looked at Kenma who just barely moved his head forward, his jaw clenching. Bokuto looked confused at what was going on and cocked his head to the side. “Were betas ever slaves, Kuroo?” Kuroo shook his head in answer. “Not that I can recall.” Hinata looked incredulously at the two in front of him. “But I’m not a beta.” Before he could say anything else Daichi took his suitcase from his hand and placed it in the back, closing the trunk. “Come. We need to get back.” His voice shifted everyone into gear as Kuroo climbed in the driver seat and Bokuto clambered into the passenger, leaving space in the middle of them. Daichi sat behind Kuroo, with Sugawara pulling Hinata in and Kenma sidling next to him. Sugawara kissed Daichi’s hand, who in return gave him a smile and a nod. Hinata sat stiffly, afraid to touch anyone until Kenma put his hand on his elbow and the breath he didn’t know he was holding escaped him with a whooshing sound. Kuroo started the car up and off they went. Daichi flicked his eyes towards Hinata and rested his head on the top of Sugawara. “Hinata.” The boy stiffened as his name was called and he turned to Daichi. “If you’re not a beta, then what are you?” Sugawara frowned and tilted his head upward to show Daichi. “I should rephrase. You don’t have a smell. Betas usually don’t have their own scent but can smell others. They don’t get affected by other scents.” Sugawara elbowed him. “Fuck, I don’t know how to ask this nicely.” Hinata tilted his head. “Did you say something that was supposed to be mean?” Daichi shook his head. “Then you asked nicely.” Hinata’s eyes shone as he spoke, and Daichi smiled in return. “I can’t answer why I don’t have a smell. I just don’t. Which is strange because when I first got my heat I swore I had a smell. But now I don’t. I’m probably defective or something.” He put his hand on his chin, thinking about why he didn’t have a smell before he gave up, his head hurting after only a few moments. Kenma’s golden eyes glittered and he looked at Kuroo who met his gaze for a moment before resuming his conversation with Bokuto, who was going on a rant about tangerines. Sugawara looked at Daichi before he sat up and looked at Hinata. “Hinata. What do you have around your neck?” Hinata looked down and smiled sheepishly, realizing he couldn’t see his own neck. “It’s the necklace my mother put on me when I left this morning. Probably an alpha thing. It hurts like an alpha thing anyway.” He mumbled the last part, Kenma being the only one close enough to hear it. Kenma’s jaw clenched again and he met Sugawara’s eyes and shook his head. Hinata had just met them. They didn’t need to tell him what it actually was. Kenma sighed. They were probably going to have a pack meeting when Hinata left. Sugawara was bristling and Kenma was seething. Hinata seemed to have zero ideas of everything and anything related to his secondary gender. There were so many things wrong with just that one statement. Kenma turned his attention back to Hinata who was rubbing the dried blood on his arm. He reached on the side of the door and pulled out the baby wipes that were always present, handing a few of them to Hinata who blinked at them owlishly and then took them gratefully. “You’re so nice Kenma. I didn’t know such nice people existed.” Kenma looked away, the tips of his ears tinged pink. “Hm.” was the only response he gave. Hinata busied himself by wiping the wound, choking down a whimper as the friction sent a shock through him. To distract himself from what he was doing he turned to Sugawara. “Why did you ask about the choker?” Sugawara gave away nothing as he met his gaze easily. “It’s just not common to see one with those specific...decorations.” His top lip curled up at the last word and Hinata wondered if it was his imagination before he nodded, taking the words at face value as Kuroo pulled up to the school. He bounced on his heels and swiveled his head excitedly as he grabbed his duffel bag. “Thanks for bringing me! If I can ever help you out, let me know! I’m like, not the best at anything except for trying!” He smiled and grabbed his suitcase, flinging the door open when it pulled to a stop. “It was nice to kind of meet you all.” And with that he disappeared, only looking back to make sure he wasn’t followed. He was not going to tell them that he didn’t have a room set up, they had done enough for him already. He was used to this anyway. The people he had left behind stared at him, suspicious looks shared between them. Daichi shook his head and put his hand on his face. “Pack meeting, now.” Kuroo and Bokuto nodded, getting on their phones immediately. Sugawara curled his hand into a fist and nodded as well. Kenma? Kenma just let out a sigh. He hated being right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and scene.


	2. Hurricane Hina? More like Hurricane Tokillama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn that no matter how progressive the world may seem, there will always be those who think other people are less than them due to status.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I ended up moving after I started this and I kept rewriting this chapter because I was not happy with it. (not having wifi really makes you second guess your choices) Reminder that I don't have a beta, I just have a friend I bounce ideas off of and hope that she is receptive to them. 
> 
> Shoutout to Ash for being so amazing to me and making me feel like my story is something good enough to be read.
> 
> Thanks for the patience with me!

Hinata trudged along the walkways to the school, looking for someone who looked like an adult because boy did he need an adult. Or should he just admit to himself that coming out here was a stupid idea? He chewed on his bottom lip as he got lost in thought, his hand gripping his bag tightly. He took a deep breath in and shook his head, slapping his hands to his cheeks to snap him out of the whirlwind of thoughts. He had made the choice to come out here, and he would stick by his choice. It was better than anything that was left in that house, or that room. He nodded to himself and went to walk forward, immediately bumping into someone who was charging towards the other way and falling down, hitting his bottom on the ground hard. “Holy sh- OW!” Hinata looked up at the person who had knocked him over and froze as the male peered at him with blue eyes, filled with ice. The same as his mother. This time he couldn’t stop the small whimper that left his throat and his stomach started churning as panic built up in his body, his pheromones aching to release his distress but instead finding no way out. The black haired man brushed his hair out of his eyes, not noticing the omegas distress before mumbling a quick, “Watch where you’re going, idiot.” Turning on his heels and then leaving as Hinata sat there, the trepidation he felt slowly beginning to subside as it was overtaken by anger. Instead of yelling back out to the boy, he stuck his tongue out at the black haired figure that was soon gone. His heart still pounded in his chest, his legs preparing for a swift retreat if necessary as he got up from the ground. His right hand reached up to the collar as he tried to stretch it from his neck, his index finger rubbing against his throat as he swallowed thickly and hissed quietly as the collar sank back into his skin. Taking a deep breath in to calm himself, he turned back towards his original path towards the school, the familiar feeling of loneliness overtaking him as he began feeling comforted. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that this feeling was the one constant in his life, the one thing he was sure he would never be without. With the makings of a smile quirking up his lips he trudged forward, intent on seeing where he could room. 

A few blocks away, now out of the van and inside the packhouse, Kenma was sighing, heavier than normal as he listened to the sounds of everyone piling in. Bokuto and Kuroo were still arguing about fruit, having switched from tangerines to oranges, which was stupid because apples were the superior fruit on any and every occasion in Kenma’s very correct opinion. Drowning out their argument was a short boy, his blonde bangs standing out against the rest of his brown hair who was yelling at another boy who had shaved his head again, who in turn was yelling back about how it was easier to paint his body without hair. A tall blonde haired boy looked at them in disgust, his headphones unable to drown out their voices. A boy with hair like a forest snickered and covered his mouth, his freckles dancing along his face as he looked up at the blondie. Coming in behind them was a dark haired boy with blue eyes, a frown still on his face as he looked for Daichi who was listening to Sugawara rant about Hinata. He caught Daichi’s gaze and tilted his head down. “Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita are stuck at work.” A small frown flashed over Daichi’s face before it vanished, seeming to be a trick of the eyes, but Kenma knew better. “Where are our resident idols? What about Asahi and Akaashi?” Daichi’s voice was heard without him raising it, and the short boy jumped up at the mention of his partner. “Asahi is coming from visiting Kiyoko and Yachi so he might be late!” A grin spread on his small face and Daichi nodded. “Thank you Noya.” The tall blonde raised his voice next. “The idols should be here soon as well, They were finishing up practice when I texted them.” Daichi nodded in acknowledgement, opening his mouth to ask about the last member of the pack before a soft voice was heard, and a head of black hair was seen as he walked into the house, gunmetal colored eyes shimmering as the attention was on him. “I’m present. I got lost in the design I was making.” The faint scent of chamomile tickled Kenma’s nose and he closed his eyes. Akaashi must have run here to not be late. Before he could get caught up in Akaashi’s scent, Kenma was quickly jolted out of the calm, his anger starting to tick back up as he realized that Shouyou had no idea how calming other people could be. He didn’t even know what being an omega meant. He still thought they were slaves, meant to be toys for everyone else. His fist clenched and Daichi cleared his throat, his attention being turned towards the alpha as his mind whirled with thoughts. “I want to wait for everyone before I address this, but Sugawara keeps assuring me that this is something that cannot wait.” The silver haired boy next to him nodded sagely, his eyes meeting Kenma, who gave a slight tilt of his head forward. The rest of the pack remained quiet, the fidgeting from some of the louder ones having ceased as they sensed something important was about to be talked about. “Earlier today, Kenma called us to pick him and another boy up. We thought he was a beta when we got there, but apparently he’s an omega.” For a brief moment, Sugawara and Kenma released their anger at the same moment, the rotten versions of apples and lavender mingling and clashing, causing the entire room to look at them both in confusion. As quickly as their anger was there, it was gone, the rotten scent permeating the air as the room stilled further. If it caused two of the normally level headed people to act this way, it was indeed something serious. Akaashi quietly noted the omegas were the ones reacting and prepared himself accordingly. 

Daichi rested a firm hand on the top of Sugawara’s head, watching his omega close his eyes before he continued. “When I asked him why we couldn’t smell him, he claimed he must be defective, but assured me that he was an omega. Kenma and Sugawara have both pointed out that he was wearing a collar. He called it a necklace, and said his mother put it on him, but Kenma is more than confident that it is not for decoration." Daichi’s eyes flicked to Kenma, giving him permission to speak. “Shouyou can’t release his scent because needles are blocking his glands.” That was all he gave, his teeth clenching as he heard a snarl from Akaashi, looking to see that his eyes were flashing from blue to violet. He knew. The omegas all knew. The betas might not know, and the alphas might have forgotten, but omegas would never be allowed that privilege. Akaashi was seething as he spoke, spitting out what the room was wondering had the omegas on edge. “It's a reminder that we’re still the lowest of all the genders. It’s a torturous form of control, intended to make us obedient by forcing us to choke on our emotions. To become dolls. If we didn’t have emotions, we wouldn’t need the collars, but with the collars on, our mates can’t smell us, they can’t save us. Not that they would if they could. We were to be passed around, because after all, omegas are so very **PRECIOUS** and **RARE**.” He put sarcastic emphasis on the last few words, his eyes close to shining completely violet. “The best part is that the omegas can’t take it off themselves, since the needles lock into the skin and won’t release without certain conditions being met. Some require a key, some require blood, some have to be cut off.” The bright violet hue had now darkened, his normal blue seeping through as his anger was taken over with an overwhelming feeling of sadness. There was an omega out there, going through what should have been left in the past. His eyes fixated on the floor, his outburst over as the waves of uncomfortable silence washed over the pack, each member processing the information on their own. Sugawara and Kenma both got up, making their way to Akaashi as they reached their hands out, Sugawara cradling his head as Kenma reached for his leg, laying his head on Akaashi’s thigh. The three of them felt a crushing surge of defeat and uneasiness as they could only imagine what an omega who didn’t know who he was felt. Was he drowning in his emotions? Was he even having emotions anymore? The omegas tightened their grip on each other, before Sugawara’s soft voice echoed in the room. “We have to help him.” These few simple words erupted the quiet into a cacophony of noise. “OF COURSE WE WILL!” Nishinoya screamed out, with Tanaka not far behind. “I can’t leave a cute kitten like that without a home can I?” Kuroo’s voice wafted over the screams, with Bokuto nodding beside him. “He meowed for me.” A reason so simple that Kuroo barked out a laugh, creating a hint of a smile on Kenma’s lips as he pressed his cheek further on Akaashi’s thigh, a low hum buzzing in his throat. The rest of the betas quietly looked at their alpha and nodded, to which Daichi acknowledged and then posed a question. “So how are we supposed to find him if we dropped him off at the school earlier?” Kenma’s reply was quick and quiet, as if he had been waiting for this moment. “We could just check the office to see where he’s roomed. We know his name.” A nod from Daichi was all he needed for the omega to untangle himself and walk towards the door. “Kuroo needs to come too. They won’t answer me if I don’t have at least one alpha with me.” Kuroo stood up, Bokuto standing with him as he grinned. “How about two then?” Kenma sighed loudly, prompting laughs from the rest of the pack. “Bring him with you when you come back, Kenma.” Akaashi finally looked up and towards him, eyes pleading with the exact emotions Kenma felt. A small nod and then the trio was off.

Hinata was standing in front of the double doors, nervous at the thought of not being able to get an answer on where to go. Was anybody even still in the office? Was this even the office? Many questions swirled in his head and he bit his bottom lip, chewing on the excess skin. While he was contemplating going in, his nostrils were filled with the stench of sweat mixed with the smell of a dog who had gotten in the rain. His nose twitched and he held in his gagging as he turned around, face to face with what he assumed were alphas. They smelled like overconfidence and grease, and as Hinata backed up to the doors, he noted that they appeared to look like they smelled. Gross. One of them stepped forward, and his black hair was slicked back, his white and dark blue shirt having a wet look as he frowned down at Hinata. “Why are you blocking the doors?” His voice was gruff, and the other two peered out from the sides of him. Hinata didn’t understand how to answer the question so he stayed silent. “Oi kid, he asked you a question!” This time one with his head shaved on the side and red brown hair spiked spoke up, while the other dude with brown hair that stuck out everywhere glared from next to him. Hinata scrunched up his face and averted his eyes. “Am I blocking it? Sorry! I’ll just get out of the way then-“ he let his voice trail off as he moved away from the door slowly, the collar clinking against his duffel bag as he grabbed his suitcase. The greasy one’s eyes widened as they saw the collar, a flicker of something unrecognizable before a smirk pasted itself on his features. He let out a low whistle and put his hand out to stop Hinata, calling out to the other two as he did so. “Well isn’t this interesting? Tazawa, Oyasu, seems like we found ourselves a little omega.” The other two were confused and Oyasu opened up his mouth to mention the fact that he didn’t have a smell. “Towada, he doesn’t-” He was cut off when Towada reached out and tapped Hinata’s collar, listening to the clink of it as his smirk deepened. Hinata’s eyes darted around, looking for a way to escape as he remained quiet, playing out the different scenarios in his head. “Seems like this omega is being trained by someone.” Towada spoke again, and it finally clicked in the other two, Tazawa clapping his fist to the palm of his hand. “A slave?” This broke Hinata out of his racing thoughts, his eyes flashing violet for a moment as he let out a low snarl. “I am not a slave.” His response was quick, and his pheromones reacted to his emotions, seeping against his pores before they were choked back, the anger quickly turning into a cough as he let go of his suitcase and reached for the choker. He futilely tugged on the collar as he focused on calming himself, Towada looking down at him in amusement. His tongue pressed the side of his mouth as he moved towards Hinata again, grabbing his wrist to keep him from making any movements. The omega’s lip curled up, another snarl building up as the stranger touched him. Fear and anger spiked through him, both of the emotions dancing around each other and fighting to make each other known. Hinata could feel a bead of perspiration dripping down his back as he stilled himself, refusing to let the three boys in front of him see his emotions choking him. His muscles tensed up as the smell of tar got nearer to him, and his tongue felt heavy, his pheromones working in overdrive but still bubbling beneath the skin, begging to be let out into the air. Towada tightened his grip on Hinata and pulled him forward, knocking his suitcase on the ground. A weak snarl escaped his mouth as the needles pressed further into him, and he couldn’t hold back the coughing that wracked his tiny body. Oyasu and Tazawa watched in silence, never moving to help, but not participating either, and Hinata’s honey eyes defiantly held a hue of purple, his glare sending a shiver down Towada’s spine. The alpha took his other hand and touched the top of Hinata’s orange hair, and he yanked it backwards, before bringing his mouth down onto Hinata’s cracked lips. Hinata’s body froze, his senses dulling before his fear was chased down by unbridled anger. His eyes remained open and as his yelp was swallowed down by Towada’s mouth covering his, violet took over his eyes and his teeth ached, his fangs begging to grow to match the emotion that filled him. The taste of oil and tar filled his mouth and Hinata felt an overwhelming desire to gag. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to cry, but mostly right now, he wanted this man off of him. Everything in him screamed, to fight, to push, to bite. _Bite_. His nose curled up and with as much force as he could muster, he bit down, his teeth catching Towada’s bottom lip. He felt the skin grind between his teeth and he bit down harder, until Towada pushed Hinata back, a growl coming from the alpha this time as blood trickled down from his mouth, and Hinata grinned, spitting out the flesh his teeth had taken with him. The taste of copper and tar was surrounding Hinata’s mouth and this time he did gag, his hand coming up to cover his mouth as he heaved. Towada growled again, his fingers touching the skin that was missing and pulling back to find red staining them. “Stupid fucking slave. I’m going to teach you how to be obedient myself since it looks like whoever is doing it now is doing a shit fucking job.” The smell of oil grew more prominent, and Hinata’s head spun, the pungent scent filling his nostrils and giving him zero time to think. Another heave wracked his body and his mouth felt like it was coated in coagulated grease, and his eyes dimmed to a dull violet, his chocolate eyes seeping through as his body unwillingly answered the call of an alpha. Everything about this felt wrong, he knew it was wrong, his body knew it was wrong, the omega in him knew, and still when Towada commanded him to turn towards him, Hinata felt himself obeying. His mind was foggy, and everything was heavy, as if he was exhausted. That must be it. He was tired. If he just woke up, this would all be a distant memory. His eyes blinked slowly as Towada grabbed his wrist, and he felt his eyelashes flutter against his cheeks as he tried to wake himself up. He felt his body being pulled forward again, and he let himself go limp. He knew he could do nothing in this moment, and his mind flickered back to the omegas he had met earlier. They were nice. Those alphas? They had been nice. He wondered if they had met up with the rest of their pack safely, and his eyes finally closed as teeth sank into his wrist. He made no sound, just felt a tongue licking where he had just been bitten when he smelt something other than grease and tar.

_Was that..strawberries?_ He took in a deep whiff, relishing in the sweet scent that pushed through the putrid haze of alpha. As he breathed in, the scent got closer and he felt himself being pulled away from tar, and he was wrapped in strawberries, the heavy grease taste in his tongue now replaced with a cream taste, and the fog that was hindering him seemed to open up as his senses came flooding back, his eyes flinging open as he covered his mouth and pushed the strawberries away, bile creeping into his mouth and falling out as he leaned over and heaved. His pale hand clutched the wall as he spit out more from his stomach and he shivered, sweat dripping from his forehead and towards his eyes as water met with sweat and fell off of his face. A hand touched his back and Hinata felt himself tense up again before he smelled that glorious scent of baked strawberries, his body relaxing against the pressure of the hand as he coughed the rest of the bile up and wiped the corner of his mouth. “Thank you.” His voice was shaky, and he bit the corner of his cheek as he tried to regain his composure. His eyes finally focused and he turned his attention to the person who smelled of milk bread and comfort. Chocolate eyes rimmed in a violet hue met his own, and he looked up further at the brown hair that was swept to the side, a hand still on Hinata’s back while his other hand pressed against the wall. “Woah.” The word was out before Hinata could stop it, and the man grinned at him, sticking out his tongue. “Woah indeed, shortie pie.” Hinata wrinkled his nose at the nickname and the man laughed, his attention getting drawn to a loud smack and a yelp. Hinata’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked up at the pretty man. “Iwa, Mattsun, and Makki are probably killing those dudes right now.” He shrugged and looked down at Hinata, his eyes narrowing as he saw the collar but choosing not to mention it as they traveled down and looked at the bite mark on his wrist. “Gross. We should take care of that.” Hinata looked down himself and felt panic rise in him again as he shivered, and touched his head. The smell of strawberries overpowered his senses and he calmed down again, breathing in gulps of the scent as he forced himself to open his eyes, focusing them back on three blurs who were still fighting. “I don’t know what happened.” His voice was small, as if he was afraid to speak. “One moment I was biting his face and the next I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t-” His voice cracked. “I couldn’t move.” He looked at the brown haired man, his chocolate eyes brimming with water. “Is that an omega thing? Does it just happen randomly like that?” The man hummed, brushing his fingers in his brown locks before shaking his head. “That’s..” He paused, trying to choose his words carefully. “It shouldn’t happen.” Hinata tilted his head, about to ask what he meant since he didn’t answer his question before he sniffed the air, whipping his head around as he smelled apple pie, mixing and melting with the strawberries, Hinata’s breathed in deeply and a trail of water fell from his eye down his cheek. “Kenma.” Hinata’s voice was barely a whisper but Kenma seemed to answer him anyway, his golden eyes taking in the scene as he walked closer to the omega. Hinata saw the two men behind him and saw them talking to the other three men, who had finally stopped doing...whatever they were doing to the greasy guys from earlier. “Shouyou.” Hinata looked at the male when he called his name, chewing on the side of his cheek before he looked away. “Oikawa.” Hinata was taken aback when Kenma addressed the male next to him before panic set in and he backed away, Oikawa’s hand dropping from his back. “ACK! I DIDN’T EVEN ASK WHO YOU WERE! I’m sorry, I was being rude I just asked you questions and I didn’t even know you, and you don’t know me but you smelled really good and you were really pretty and you reminded me of Sugawara and-” Hinata gasped for breath as he rambled, his hand clutching at his collar before the smell of fruit covered him again and he slowly relaxed. “Shortie pie, I think I can forgive you considering the circumstances that led to our meeting.” He smiled as everyone else walked up to them, and Hinata smelled copper, his skin buzzing at the thought of people being hurt because of him and before he could stop himself he blurted his thoughts out. “Um! Are you hurt anywhere? You smell like copper. Should I call a doctor? Should I buy medicine? I don’t know what to do in this situation. Do you need some water?” His voice trailed off as everyone stared at him, and he shrank back from their gazes, wiping his face as he felt his eyes well up again. Emotions were a truly cumbersome thing. “I think we should be asking you those questions.” A gruff voice spoke and Oikawa smiled at the sound of it. “Iwa is being a sweetie again~” The man frowned, and opened up his mouth to retort before looking at Hinata. “Shut up, Shittykawa.” A man with thick eyebrows and black hair gasped, his eyes tearing up. “Iwaizumi what did I do?” He sniffled dramatically and a man with short pink brown hair patted his back. “Don’t listen to the big meanie Matsukawa. If anything, you should be called Prettykawa.” Matsukawa looked at the man patting his back and wiped his eyes. “Hanamaki you are the only bro for me.” Hanamaki sniffled this time. “Bro-” Oikawa rolled his eyes, lightly hitting Iwaizumi, who was trying to explain that he meant Oikawa was the shitty one, and not Matsukawa. “How come you don’t call me Prettykawa?” Iwaizumi scoffed. “Why would I call you pretty when you already know that you are?” Oikawa blinked and everyone else looked at Iwaizumi who realized what he said and tiredly put a hand in front of his face, the tips of his ears turning red as Oikawa nuzzled up to him, giggling loudly. Hinata watched the whole exchange before his own giggling began, his hand covering his mouth as he quieted them down, his eyes crinkled up as a smile ghosted over his face before Kenma tugged on his hand and pointed to his wrist, the bite mark still having little droplets of blood pin prick up and Hinata shrugged. “I couldn’t stop him. I bit his lip but he did something weird to my head. And he smelled so gross. Like...I don’t know how to explain it, but he smelled like a car that had been on fire and spilled stuff onto the road and then he rolled around in the melted car guts.” Hinata’s stomach lurched at the memory of his scent and bile once again filled his throat, his eyes closing as he focused on not throwing up in front of the people he had just met earlier that day. 

Kuroo and Bokuto had been unusually quiet, and when Kenma looked over at them, he saw them looking at the men who were still laid in the grass, jaws clenched and their eyes flashing red. Kenma cleared his throat, and the two alphas looked at him before looking at Hinata, who was paling further. Kuroo took a deep breath in before kneeling in front of Hinata, taking his wrist with the bite mark on it, his grip tightening for a moment before he heard an audible whimper from Hinata. His eyes flicked to the omega, who looked up at him with puffy cheeks, his eyes glistening wetly as he held back his tears again. Briefly Kuroo’s chest tightened and his mind screamed one word at him. Mine. He almost spoke the word out loud before the collar caught his attention. “Hey kitten, do you remember how you got that on you, exactly?” Hinata tilted his head to the side and looked at Kenma who pointed to the collar. “My mom?” Kuroo closed one eye, letting his hand drop his wrist. “I mean what did your mom do when she put that on you? Did she use a key or?” Hinata scrunched his nose up as he thought, before Oikawa called out helpfully. “If we can figure out how it was put on you, we could take it off.” Hinata’s eyes widened and he looked to Kuroo in surprise. “WHA? REALLY?? IT CAN COME OFF???” Kuroo let out a barking laugh as he nodded and stepped back up, Bokuto wrapped an arm around Kuroo’s shoulder as everyone looked at Hinata expectantly. “Hmm.” Kenma looked around as he noticed Hinata didn’t have his suitcase or duffel bag, before noticing that they both were on the ground haphazardly, presumably from what had transpired here earlier. As Hinata thought, he slipped away from him, and began picking up his items. There was no longer any question, Shouyou was coming home with them. Hanamaki and Matsukawa noticed what he was doing and went over to help him, and to get information from what the meeting they had missed earlier. “Well when she grabbed my neck, she dug her nails into my skin and then when she put on the choker it locked.” Oikawa kept his lip from curling, disgusted at the thought of anyone putting that thing on an omega, let alone a parent. Kuroo nodded as did Bokuto though he didn’t understand what he was nodding for. Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at the information but stayed silent. “So if what Akaashi said earlier was correct, we should just repeat exactly what his mom did and it should come off.” Hinata put his hand on his cheek, closing one eye. “So you’re telling me that you want to choke me, AND make me bleed?” Kuroo’s eyes widened and Oikawa laughed, Iwaizumi covering up a smirk while Bokuto nodded again. “If we do that, it’ll come off right?” Bokuto posed the question to Kuroo who nodded after shaking off the fact he was taken aback. “In theory at least. It would probably be best to have an alpha do it, in case there is something about the fingernail marks and it isn’t just Hinata’s blood.” Bokuto nodded again, bringing his arm off Kuroo as he cracked his knuckles and stretched. “Should we get this over with then?” Hinata blinked his eyes and shook his head at the same time, his expression screaming the words _excuse me_. “Uh- Right now? Like right here?” Hinata backed up as Bokuto walked towards him. “The faster we test out the theory the faster we can find out if we have to go directly to your house to get the answers right?” Bokuto’s golden eyes shined. “You’re not gonna keep walking around with that on, so you might as well just let us try.” Bokuto held his hand out, stopping his walk. “I won’t do it without your permission though.” Hinata looked at Kenma, who nodded at him, having finished picking up the stuff and giving it to Hanamaki and Matsukawa to hold. Oikawa nodded at him too, pointing to Iwaizumi. “Iwa will beat him up if anything happens!” Iwaizumi nodded and cracked his knuckles, as if already preparing to body slam Bokuto. Hinata couldn’t explain why he had this trust in them all, he had literally just met them today, but he had this overwhelming trust towards them. Maybe he was naive, looking for a connection to people after not having one for so long, but something in him told him to step forward. He took a breath in, and stepped towards Bokuto’s hand, his chocolate eyes meeting his golden ones as he brought his pale hands up and pushed Bokuto’s hand to his throat. A shiver ran down Bokuto’s spine as he met the omegas eyes, and then his long fingers tightened around Hinata’s neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and scene.
> 
> (also it was painful to write the ohgiminami boys like that, i truly love everyone in this series)


	3. I smell like beef

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solitude creates focus on the most unlikely things, because noises can either be comfort or danger. 
> 
> Emotions are never meant to be stifled, and not being able to confront your emotions may result in hyper sensitivity and awareness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whhhhhaaaat? I'm posting sooner than anyone expected? It's all thanks to Ash yet again. (Blame her for the cliffy this time)

Hinata kept his eyes locked on Bokuto’s, hands trembling as he felt the pressure on his neck. He dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand just as Bokuto did the same to his neck. He could feel that the alpha was trying not to hurt him, but Kuroo had said it had to be recreated exactly for the best chance of the collar coming off. Taking in a deep breath he brought one of his trembling hands back up and pressed onto Bokuto’s hand. “You’re gonna have to use a lot more force than that. Your nails should rip through my skin as you squeeze my neck.” He tapped on Bokuto’s knuckles. “If I can still talk without any issues, there is a problem.” A grin spread on his face as he tried to make the older boy feel at ease. “I trust you not to kill me.” He let his hand drop, his earth colored eyes never leaving the golden ones that watched him like an owl. Bokuto was taken aback by the smile on the omega with one of his hands around his throat. For a brief moment he looked towards Kuroo who was looking at the two of them, hazel eyes shining with curiosity as he gave a nod. “Do what he says.” With that confirmed, he turned his attention back to Hinata who hadn’t dropped the smile from his face. He took a deep breath in, steeling his nerves as he reminded himself to not hurt him too much. His long fingers loosened their grip on Hinata’s neck before they quickly reached for the slender neck again, nails sinking into the soft flesh easily. In the same moment he increased the pressure on his neck, cutting off his air as Hinata maintained his grin. Hinata didn’t show that he was struggling to breathe, he just focused on quelling Bokuto’s worry that he would hurt him. Even though the point of this was to hurt him. He felt the pressure on his neck increase more, his brain registering that there was liquid dripping down his neck and onto the collar. So he had dug his nails in enough to draw blood, that was good. Now if he could just remember what else his mom did, He would be able to breathe again. His eyes closed and he ran the scene back in his head before his eyes shot open, remembering that she pushed him back out of her grasp. He tapped on Bokuto’s hand and made a shoving motion with his hand. Bokuto tilted his head to the side, eyebrows raised in question before Kenma broke the silence. “Push him back as you let him go.” Hinata gave a thumbs up in Kenma’s general direction since he couldn’t move his head and Bokuto grimaced, nodding as he did just that, his hand releasing the grip on his throat as he pushed him back with the same motion. Hinata choked back a cough as he breathed in air through his nose. He kept the smile on his face as he looked at everyone who had waited for them to try it out. “Thanks for trying you guy-” He was cut off by quiet whirring and then a click, eyes widening as he lifted a hand up, shakily touching the back of the collar. It was open. 

The needles remained in his neck but he could take it off. “HEY HEY HEY! I DID IT!” Bokuto screeched and lifted his hands up before swinging an arm around Kuroo who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. Kenma and Oikawa had already moved towards Hinata and Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa were quietly fistbumping each other as they headed towards the pack house with Hinata’s stuff. “Shouyou, take it off.” Kenma’s voice was soft, holding a twinge of urgency in it as Oikawa nodded. “You need it off shortie pie.” The same urgency was in Oikawa’s words, but Hinata was confused. “I want to take it off just as much as the both of you do, but my mom gave me this necklace.” He lowered his voice. “I don’t think she would follow me out here or anything like that, but just in case can I take it off somewhere that isn’t public?” He lifted his chin up, pointing to the three boys who were starting to groan and move now. Kenma and Oikawa shared a glance with each other, an emotion passing between them that Hinata couldn’t decipher. Kenma sighed as Oikawa spoke. “To the pack house we go then.” Kuroo and Bokuto didn’t question their decision, instead going on either side of the three omegas, as they all walked towards the house. Hinata was squished in the middle, being dragged along by the others as he tried to ask about his luggage and where the other guys went since he still needed to thank them for earlier. Oikawa laughed, nuzzling the top of Hinata’s head. “They already took your stuff to our house.” Hinata scrunched his nose up. “Wha- Why? I was heading to the office to ask about where I was staying before the car guys came up.” This time Kenma spoke. “You’re with us. Daichi called the office earlier and they asked us to let you stay with us.” Kenma kept his head down, typing what he was saying to Daichi so that he could pass the message- _not lie_ -along to the other members of the pack. Kuroo and Bokuto looked at each other before shrugging, deciding not to correct what had actually happened. It wasn’t like Kenma to lie, and he always had a good reason when he did. Besides, neither of them felt like they could let the small omega out of their sight right now. They just had a desire to protect him. Hinata was losing his mind at what Kenma had said, unable to form proper sentences as excitement bubbled inside of him. “WHA-THEY WHA-I CAN-WHAAAAT?!” 

Oikawa was keeping his laughter down as they all listened to him sputter out sounds, his eyes softening as he saw Iwaizumi waiting for him at the end of the street. “Iwa~” He purred out, breaking from the group towards his partner who rolled his eyes and grabbed his hand, interlocking their fingers before yanking him towards the house. Bokuto moved next to Hinata, who looked up at him and smiled before he dropped his head back down, nudging Kenma. “How far are we going?” Kenma shrugged. “We get there when we get there.” Hinata made a face at the reply, quieting down as they reached the road they needed to cross. An uneasy feeling rose inside of him as he watched the cars pass and unconsciously he reached his hand up and grabbed the bottom of Bokuto’s shirt. Kenma lifted his eyes up briefly to check on Hinata and noticed his eyes darting from car to car. He put his phone in his pocket and nudged Kuroo who looked down at him. Kenma tilted his head towards Hinata whose grip on Bokuto’s shirt had tightened, and Kuroo smiled, sliding next to Hinata but making sure Kenma was still in reaching distance as he gently put his hand on the top of Hinata’s head. “Just so you know, our place is pretty big since it houses..” He stopped as he counted everyone in his head. “19 members. With you it’ll make 20. There are also 2 girls but they live further into the city since they go to a different school. You’ll meet them when we take you to Moonlit Fauna this weekend.” Hinata looked up at Kuroo, who was leading them into the street, distracting him from the noise and buzz of the cars. “Did you already decide my plans for me?” Amusement played at the end of his sentence, and Kuroo nodded sagely. “I don’t make the rules, but you’re absolutely stuck with us this weekend.” He lifted his hand off of Hinata’s head, bringing his other hand up as he moved Kenma next to Hinata again. “Why can’t kids these days just say yes?” Hinata giggled, sticking his tongue out at Kuroo who sighed dramatically. Bokuto had remained quiet, keenly aware of the tiny hand gripping his shirt. He was afraid that if he moved he would spook him, and it was endearing to have someone who was depending on him, even if he didn’t know exactly why he was being grabbed. Warmth spread up his arms as he heard the omega giggle, and the tension he had been feeling melted away. Kenma was grateful that Kuroo understood what he was trying to say without him having to use his words. There was something that was exhausting about interacting with people, even if it was people you enjoyed being around, and with the emotions Kenma had been experiencing all day, he was feeling more tired than normal. Kenma caught Kuroo’s eyes and blinked slowly, to which Kuroo mouthed “you’re welcome.” Kenma’s mouth quirked up and he breathed in leisurely. There was definitely a reason they had remained friends for so long. 

Hinata stopped walking and gasped loudly, his free hand hitting Kenma. “DID YOU SAY THERE WOULD BE 19 PEOPLE?????? THAT’S SO MANY????” Kenma grimaced at the loud voice and subsequent hit he received, rubbing his eyes. He was completely unsure if Hinata and him would be able to be friends. Kuroo was laughing, pointing at Kenma before also patting him on the back as he answered Hinata’s question with a yes. Kenma sighed inwardly as he contemplated on taking back the good words he had just spoken about Kuroo in his head. Hinata’s eyes widened as Kuroo explained that each member of the pack had his own room, though the mates usually slept together in the same room. The living room was especially big, since lots of meetings and emotions happened in that room that led to puppy piles. Hinata scrunched his nose up in confusion, but kept from asking what a puppy pile was since it kinda sounded like they stacked dogs on each other. Bokuto had chimed in as he talked about how they would all watch movies together and fall asleep to which Kuroo scoffed, claiming it was only the loud ones like Bokuto who fell asleep during the movies. All of the talking had filled up the space enough that Hinata was surprised when everyone else stopped in front of one of the biggest places he had ever seen in his life. Even though he had only seen like 2 places. _Not that it mattered. At all._ The point is, THIS building was BIG. The door had a slot in the middle of it for mail, and the wood was a deep mahogany, and there was a black outline of a volleyball on top of the slot, looking as if it had bounced off of it. Mix matched bricks stretched around the entirety of the house, but everything still fit together. If you looked closely it would look like nothing went where you would normally put it, but each item had been laid down with the bigger picture in mind. A long black handle adorned the door, and Hinata looked up further, noticing that there were words at the top which read: **SUMMIT HOUSE.** “So I’ll get to see what the view is like from a summit huh?” Hinata mumbled to himself, his index and middle finger tightening on Bokuto’s shirt again when the door opened in front of them.

Daichi smiled at Hinata and motioned them all inside, Hinata’s heart thumping loudly in his chest as he let Bokuto go and opted to grab for Kenma’s arm instead, his skin buzzing with nerves. Everything was loud as he stepped inside, his awe at how big the house momentarily squashed down as the noise echoed in his head and he shrank back, overwhelmed by the amount of people milling around. Bokuto and Kuroo both touched his back at the same time, their large hands steadying Hinata who took a deep breath in to stabilize himself. The noise ceased with Sugawara calling out. “Hinata?” His name burrowed in his brain, keenly aware that the noise had disappeared, leaving the hum of the refrigerator and sound of ice falling, clanging onto other ice cubes as the only thing Hinata could hear. Kenma reached his own hand out towards a black haired male who was sitting by himself, Hinata being dragged along with him as Kenma’s hand touched the top of the man’s head. “I brought him back Keiji.” Hinata watched as the man lifted his head up, prompting Hinata’s mouth to slightly open as he locked eyes with him. “Pretty..” He breathed out, letting his hands drop from Kenma’s arm. The man’s gunmetal eyes were puffy, as if he had been crying and without thinking Hinata surged forward, gripping the sides of his face, his thumb brushing the corners of his eyes as he looked down at the man. “The sky and you are both pretty when you create water.” His voice was quiet, carrying along the already hushed room. Akaashi’s eyes flashed a deep purple as the bridge of his nose was dusted with pink. A beat passed, and then another until Hinata realized he was holding someone’s face that he didn’t know, causing his ears to turn red as he apologized and stepped back, his hand going up to cover his mouth as he avoided eye contact. Was he just fated to meet nothing but pretty omegas? They all looked like they belonged on the cover of a magazine. Hinata touched the ends of his own greasy, dull colored hair, his ears still burning as he tried to focus on something else. Sugawara finally broke the silence with a giggle as he walked up to Hinata. “I agree that Akaashi is pretty.” The man called Akaashi finally broke out of the trance he was in from the tiny omega who tried to comfort him without knowing who he was the moment he heard Sugawara’s velvet voice. His eyes flicked to the collar still around his neck, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grimacing. “It is nice to meet you Hinata.” His voice was soothing, and Hinata smiled upon hearing it, his eyes closing from his grin. “Yes! It’s very nice to meet everyone!” He opened his eyes at the sound of everyone shouting “HELLO!” He bowed his head to Akaashi, apologizing for touching him without permission first. Akaashi gave a soft smile in response, his own hand brushing Hinata’s hair from his face. “You were trying to make me feel better. I think I can overlook it, especially since it worked.” 

Hinata’s smile grew bigger at the praise bestowed on him, his head tilting ever so slightly at the touch of Akaashi’s hand. It made him feel good that he was being touched without expectancy of reciprocity. He wanted more, he CRAVED more, he was **starving** for just the smallest of touches. He briefly wondered if this is what he had been missing without other omegas being around him. A visible shudder rippled over his body when Akaashi removed his hand, the moment far too fleeting for Hinata to enjoy. His bottom lip jutted out for a moment, his hand reaching up and pulling on his skin as he distracted himself from his attention towards his newfound appreciation of appendages connecting to him. A loud voice caused Hinata to rip his fingers from his lip, his head whipping towards where it came from. “Yo! Can you take that thing off or not? We’ve been waiting to see!” A short man jumped up, his brown hair flopping into his face as he pulled on the shoulders of a bald man. “Nishinoya.” Daichi’s voice cut through, a warning plain for the room to read. “He can take it off on his own time. It is not up for you to decide just because you’re impatient.” Nishinoya stopped jumping, his eyebrows furrowing. “I thought it hurt?” He looked up at the skinhead, the question on his face. “Didn’t Akaashi say it hurt, Ryu?” Tanaka nodded, a hand on his chin. “I think that was pretty much the gist of it.” A blonde with glasses spoke up this time, a scoff aimed at the two who were just talking. “Just because something hurts doesn’t mean you can easily rid yourself of it.” A boy with freckles looked up at him, a pout on his lip and wet sparkles in his eyes.“Tsukki..” Tsukishima ignored the boy and continued. “Besides, his senses are probably going to go into overdrive the moment he takes it off, especially with his own scent, since it’s linked to his emotions which is why they brought him back to the house.” He pushed up his glasses, tilting his head up. “If you used context clues in any way, shape, or form, You would have figured that out when Akaashi was talking.” Tanaka cracked his knuckles, making a fist with his left hand and then bringing up his right, moving the right hand forward like it was was cranking a jack in the box. His middle finger raised slowly, surprise on his face as if he hadn’t expected this before he and Nishinoya burst into giggles, Tsukishima rolling his eyes at their antics. 

Hinata watched them interact, his hand covering up his mouth to stifle any of his own laughter that would have leaked out. Bokuto and Kuroo were openly laughing, Oikawa not far behind as his snickering got louder. Iwaizumi was coughing into his hand, while Hanamaki was humming the tune of _Pop Goes the Weasel_ , with Matsukawa coming up with lyrics landing on “Tanaka’s finger is winding up, Nishinoya sticks his tongue out, Yama does this every night..” a pause as Hanamaki pops his tongue and then goes back to humming. “FUCK TSUKISHIMA!” Yamaguchi’s face bloomed into a brilliant red, his freckles highlighted before he buried his head in his hands, a snort coming from above him, Tsukishima unable to keep it from slipping out as his shoulders shake. A boy with icy blue eyes furrows his eyebrow, mouthing the words until it clicks and he averts his face, pinching the bridge of his nose to keep the air from escaping. Kenma and Akaashi are both keeping their heads down, clutching the edges of their pants as they titter at the song. Sugawara wipes tears from his eyes, guffawing loudly with Daichi who was failing miserably at keeping his face in check. Tanaka and Nishinoya were choking on their chortles, and Hinata’s head jerked forward, his lips creating a raspberry sound until his mouth opened and his own mirth scintillated like bells, soft at first before gradually getting louder. One hand still tried to muffle the laugh with the other clutching his midsection. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed like this, the sensation wrapping over him like a hot cup of tea, warming his body with an unfamiliar emotion. Joy. 

“Tsukki..” Yamaguchi whined, embarrassment wheedling in the tone of voice from behind his hands. Tsukishima cleared his throat, fixing his smirk on Tanaka as he looked down at him, his long fingers coming up and resting on the nape of Yamuguchi’s neck. “At least Yamaguchi and I get to have sex.” Yamaguchi’s face reddened further, a loud groan muffled by his hands. “How are things going with you and Shimizu on that front?” This time Tanaka was the one whose face changed instantly, his arm coming in front of his eyes as he wailed dramatically. “Even when her name comes out of a shitty boy's mouth, it’s the prettiest name in the world.” Nishinoya nodded beside him, patting his friend on the back. The rest of the pack laughed a little longer, watching them talk about the finer points of the woman named Shimizu, despite Nishinoya having his own partner already, boldly stating “Just because I’m window shopping doesn’t mean I’m going to make a purchase. I can appreciate the merchandise regardless.” More laughter ensued, with Hinata laughing right alongside of them, despite not knowing the people that were being talked about. It felt as if he had known everyone for years despite it being mere HOURS. Anger bloomed in his heart for the briefest of moments towards the woman who had kept him from experiencing this. This camaraderie. This companionship. This felt like what a family should be like. Not separated and cold, but affable and warm. Hope stirred next to the anger spreading over him, the desire for finding a place like this he could call his own taking root inside of him. A small cough left his mouth as the anger built up, the needles still preventing his glands from secreting in answer to his emotions. Kenma and Akaashi lifted their heads up, their eyes instantly fixed on Hinata as he gave them a smile, attempting to assuage their worries.

“Shouyou, I think you can take it off since most of the pack is watching the disaster over there.” Akaashi nodded, standing up and in front of Hinata as he did so. “I can block you from their view anyway.” Sugawara noticed their movement, slipping away from Daichi and heading towards the kitchen where he grabbed some medical items from the cabinet just in case he was bleeding when the collar came off. He padded over to the trio as they talked, his fingers brushing over the gauze and sliding the antiseptic in the pocket of his pants. Hinata smiled again as Sugawara joined them, one of his hands brushing his bangs back and grimacing at the greasy feeling. “Can I take a shower after I take the necklace off?” His question was soft, aimed at Sugawara who smiled and gently took his chin with his free hand, his hazel eyes boring into Hinata’s milk chocolate colored ones. “You take that thing off and I’ll even throw in food with the shower.” Hinata stuck his tongue out as he gagged, his face disgusted at the idea. “Why would I want to shower with food? If that’s an omega thing, that’s something I’m going to have to take a hard pass on.” Sugawara blinked, taken aback for an instant before giggles burst from his mouth, eyes crinkling up as he let his hand drop. “He meant he would make you dinner after the shower Shouyou.” Kenma’s tone was higher than normal, his pitch wavering as he choked down his own laugh, Akaashi tittering with his face turned away. Realizing his mistake, pink dusted the back of his neck, traveling towards his cheeks and painting his pale skin a light rose hue. “Aah.” He let out a nervous laugh. “Wel-” He cleared his throat, swallowing his nerves down. “Ahem. If food is being offered then I will take this off immediately!” His voice rose, his embarrassment still staining his face. The timbre of his speech caught the attention of Kuroo who looked to the huddle of omegas, blocking the smallest of them from view. His eyes narrowed briefly, before considering that the little dude was probably in the huddle for a reason, and it screamed that this was only for omegas. Something inside of him sneered in annoyance and he squashed the emotion instantaneously. His alpha was just reacting to wanting to protect the tiny omega. That was it. To take his attention off of Hinata, he elbowed Bokuto in the side who yelped and came back with a karate chop towards Kuroo’s neck who laughed and avoided the hit.

Hinata rubbed his cheeks, his fingers warming from the heat that radiated from his skin before he took a deep breath in, maneuvering to block his own view of everyone else but Akaashi, Kenma, and Sugawara. He released the breath he was holding in and brought one of his hands down, playing with the edge of the choker. Gunmetal eyes never left his, while amber eyes watched his fingers, the hazel eyes roaming over his neck and face, waiting for any signs of discomfort. Another shaky breath ghosted over his hand and deciding not to put it off any longer, he curled his index finger over the material, pulling forward ever so slightly. His bottom lip jutted out as a whisper of a whimper reached the ears near him. It also reached the ears of hyper-vigilant alphas, attuned to the sound of hurt omegas anywhere. Ignoring their instincts, they stayed put, especially with a warning rumble from Oikawa, who had moved in front of the huddle, guarding it as the others kept Hinata from the rest of the pack. If there was anything that THIS pack knew, it was to not mess with its omegas. The betas were still yammering, electing to ignore what was going on in favor of arguing with each other. (even though one of them was more...stirring the pot and two of them were just yelling out WORLDSTAR every couple of minutes.) “Maybe it would be better to rip it like a bandaid?” Came the quiet suggestion from Sugawara, even though discomfort was on his face as he made the suggestion. Unlike with Band-Aids, there were needles perforating his epidermis, digging into his glands. Ripping it could potentially make it worse for Hinata, giving him unexpected damage. Akaashi shook his head lightly at the suggestion before reaching out his own hands. “It might be better if someone else took it off.” Hinata looked up, fear flicking in his eyes like a shadow from a candle before it dissipated like smoke and he nodded. “Okay.” He lifted up his chin and Akaashi stepped forward, blowing on his hands to warm them up before he grabbed the collar this time. The leather was rough beneath the tips of his fingers and resentment towards the individual who had done this to Hinata grew. Pushing aside his emotions he focused on gently pulling apart the back of the collar, the metal scraping as it was dragged into a release point. Hinata never moved, trusting that Akaashi would get the collar off of him. Akaashi’s hands were shaking just enough to make him pause, until he felt Kenma’s hand on the small of his back, grounding him as the trust from the smaller omegas spread to his hands and steadied them. With a soft huff he pulled the sides of the collar, listening to the thwicks of the needles detracting as he liberated the skin slowly. Hinata’s breath had stuck in his throat, his ears ringing with the sound of the syringes leaving him. When the last one was jerked from his esophagus, the intake of his air was sharp and his eyes looked around at the people surrounding him. Hot liquid dripped from his neck, yellow and purple bruises decorating where the collar had been, showing that it had been taken on and off over an extended period of time. Ignoring the feeling of sticky red that trickled down, Hinata touched his eyes, making sure that water wasn’t leaking from them. He only had a brief moment of respite before he was flooded with a myriad of emotions that bubbled beneath his skin, steaming and boiling like water in a pot that threatened to spill over as his scent permeated the house in mere seconds. His knees wobbled and just when he was about to fall, Kenma propped him up, Oikawa materializing on the other side of him. His breath was heavy, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he twitched his head and closed his eyes, sweat dripping from his forehead and down his face. The house had become quiet, except for the boy with ice blue eyes who had sniffed the air and furrowed his eyebrows. “Is that beef?” Hinata felt as if cold water had been thrown on him as he stilled and sniffed his arms. “I smell like beef?” Dread creeped into the emotions swirling around his body as he swiveled his head to the omegas near him. “I smell like beef?” He repeated the question to them but didn’t give them time to answer before he answered resolutely. “I smell like beef.” As his last statement finished, he heard guttural growls from across the room, with one of the growls cutting off in favor of a low snarl. Red eyes flashed and the last thing Hinata heard before there was a wall in front of him again was “No." A louder snarl this time, accompanied by skin hitting the table. "You don’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and scene.
> 
> I noticed someone commenting that they didn't like my chapters broken up by scene changes, so I tried to break them up more this time. Let me know if the change was better or worse!


	4. Get yo fucking dog, bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Switching POVs! Confusion, annoyance, acceptance. 
> 
> Major poetry vibes in the povs and i'm not sorry about it
> 
> uhhhhhhhhhhh I can't think of an edgy summary like I usually do soooo? there's some soft shit here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi my little trashlings, here's a surprise for you! 
> 
> To make up for not posting for the next few weeks and making up for last chapter being kind of short, this SHIT was rewritten twice and I'm shocked I managed to finish it in one night so there's that. I really wanted to get this out for you guys though. 
> 
> The format is way different than usual because I wanted a fractured feeling but I hope it doesn't take away from the story.

# 𓅛

# 

It was muted. Everything around him faded as the blood inside him swished to his ears, pounding erratically. The sounds of someone snarling and pushing things over accompanied by yelling and people crowding around him didn’t register. There was a fire burning in him, his skin slippery with perspiration as his tongue lolled out and his breath came out in huffs.  
_It was wrong. This didn’t feel right._  
This didn’t feel like what he experienced in the room at the house when his mom had taken off the necklace before. Had it been a different necklace that time?  
_Panic._  
So many emotions were swirling around him and spilling out all at once.  
_Why couldn’t anyone understand him?_  
He just wanted to be cooler. Whimpers spilled out of his throat, and he tried to move from the people holding him down, unable to see through a violet and bleary haze. He tried to reach his hands up again, only to find that everything was heavy. Was someone on him or was his body telling him to stay still?  
_There were too many around._  
How could there be this many people and yet nobody could hear him? Was he not speaking?  
_Hot._  
He was so hot. Tears pin pricked the corners of his eyes and this time when he opened up his mouth a wail echoed in the air. It was harsh, and loud, and told the pain he was enduring, breaking off as he choked on his own sounds. He was screaming to be understood.  
_Did it work? Did they know?_  
He could feel another whine building up and he tried to clench his jaw shut, focusing on the inferno that was dancing through his body.  
_Alone._  
There’s too many and yet he’s alone.  
**Spice.**  
_An answer? Not alone?_  
He took a deep breath in, a shudder relaxing his hands.  
Another breath.  
**_Cinnamon?_**  
He felt a hand on his.  
A gulp of air again.  
**_Nutmeg?_**  
A soft whimper this time, his hands reaching up, his eyes still unfocused and hazy. The hand that was on his pulled him forward, surrounding him in a bout of cinnamon. The air was unapologetic and he flared his nostrils, drinking in the scent until his head tilted forward and he caught another whiff of spice. He reached his hand out towards the scent, a whine spilling from his lips until he was assaulted with nutmeg. The two scents battled each other, and vaguely he heard growling. His eyes fluttered, his skin still dripping with sweat as the boiling temperature that was in him started to cool. His tiny hands touched one arm and then another, as his own scent started to intermingle with the spice, warm and syrupy. Vanilla. Coating the edges of his core scent, was a rich honey, a smell only for his mates. The aroma that was wreaking havoc on the two was pure, and inviting, unaware of the trouble it was causing with its sweet song. The cinnamon and nutmeg scents seemed to pause their battle, and he felt his body give in to whatever he was feeling. Calm? Bliss? His head was foggy, heavy with the three aromas and his eyes were half-lidded. He leaned forward again, and felt himself being lifted onto a lap, arms wrapping around his waist and a nose nuzzling in the crook of his neck. A warm and wet tongue dragged over his skin, like a cat bathing itself. His brain briefly registered another pair of arms except instead of encircling him they reached past him around the other figure. A chest pressed against his back and he felt breath on the dip of his shoulder before another nose pressed to the other side of his neck. A shiver went through his body and before he could stop himself, he let out a low hum of approval, melting into the arms surrounding him. He felt safe. Content. A solitary thought protruded in his mind.  
_Home?_  
As quickly as the thought came it evaporated, his mind instead focusing on the grounding scents around him. A slow sigh as his eyes closed and then, he let out a quiet buzzing sound, the fluttering of the letter “r” soft and calm. For the first time in his entire life, Hinata was purring. 

# 𓃠

# 

It was unexpected. He had been snickering over Kageyama and Hinata talking about beef, and then he had been hit with it. A delectable, mouthwatering scent that overloaded his brain and called forth his alpha. Canines grew, sticking from out of his mouth as he growled, low and warning. He had attempted to stop it, shaking his head and digging his blunt nails into his supple flesh, attempting to inhibit whatever was going on. But there was a call, a siren’s song that beckoned him forward, eyes flashing red. He heard another growl next to him, and his growl shut off, transforming into a snarl. The omega insisted that his scent was that of meat and he couldn’t keep silent.  
“No.”  
A guttural answer, with another snarl as the one next to him spoke. “You don’t.” Skin met table. Eyes glinted with hunger and they moved together in tangent towards where the scent teased through the air. Met with a wall of friends, he attempted to break through with a loud snap of his jaws, saliva spilling from his mouth at the action.  
“Mate.”  
He spoke calmly, but his voice was slicing through the air, leaving no room for argument. The sound of the omega whimpering reached his ears and he let his chest vibrate, stalking around the wall of people in front of him, preventing him from reaching his mate. In some semblance of control he kept himself from tearing apart the wall with his hands, his blood running cold as he heard the sound of the omega, HIS omega shattering with a wail that was akin to a wife losing her husband in front of her eyes. His eyes flickered from red to hazel briefly and in his state of clarity, he released his scent. Cinnamon decorated the room, seeping into every orifice. “Let them through.” Kenma’s voice reverberated and his alpha sang, cautiously moving forward as the wall broke. His omega was breathing heavy, sitting on the floor and not moving, his hands on the floor. He sat next to him, watching carefully as the other people moved from his sight and he slid a shaky hand over the top of the omega’s.  
He lifted his head up as he caught another scent mingling with his feuding over power. Annoyance ticked through him briefly until a whimper brought his attention down and he pulled the omega towards him. He bathed him in cinnamon huffing in satisfaction at the way the omega flared his nostrils, tilting his head until he caught a whiff of nutmeg again. He heard his omega whimper and he let out a growl, to which the other answered with a growl of his own. His lip curled upwards, his exposed canines glinting with saliva until a hand shook him out of the state he was in. Thick and sugary, honey dripped vanilla punched through the spiced scents, and he watched his omega turn pliant, and he picked him up, setting him on his lap with his head pressing against his chest. His arms snaked around the tiny waist in front of him and he buried his head in the crook of his neck, black hair falling forward. His tongue gently licked over the blood, the metallic taste flooding his mouth. He felt arms touch him and wrap around him, legs inching on either side of him as he felt the weight of another press onto his--.  
No.  
THEIR omega. He moved his head a little, allowing room for the other alpha. Feeling their omega shiver, he nudged forward and heard a sound that created an instantaneous bloom of warmth, pride puffing in his chest. Their omega was purring. In answer to the purr, a low rumble built in his chest, the thrumming of contentment evident.  
Hinata was purring. Kuroo was crooning. 

# 𓅓

It was connective. The moment he had heard the omega question his scent, his alpha had reacted, as if it had also taken offense to Hinata saying it was beef. He knew. Before the candied scent sweetened the air he had known. It was instinctual, vibrant and pungent. He watched his friend struggle to keep down what was only natural, having always known that there was something behind that smirk. Predatory and cautionary, his hackles were raised at the growl, his own eyes crimson as he responded in kind with a warning of his own. The snarl at the omega talking about his scent was almost endearing.  
“No.” His friend had said, which of course prompted him to follow up with “You don’t.”  
His fist made contact with the table as he got up, a wince at the force he had used on it. He had always followed what his instincts told him to do, and right now they were urging him forward in response to whimpers that were lifted up on clouds, crashing down on him as if he were soaring through the air and met with a gale. Tilting his head down to navigate the sea of people in his way, red gleamed under the wary eyes of creatures that had nothing to do with him. Sunlight was calling to him, begging for him to dance in the sky on a ray of shine. It was a small ray at first, and his canines whispered as his tongue ran over one of them, surging forward to make contact with the star that seemed to dim behind a cacophony of friends.  
“Mate.” He heard next to him, and with that word uttered he tried to break through, voices yelling at him to stop until he was to face to face with gunmetal eyes, unapologetic as they locked onto him. Akaashi was standing in his way, stoic and hissing at him. The rumble in Akaashi’s chest was clear that he was close to letting out a growl. He blinked slowly, barely having time to register the threat of Akaashi’s tones before the small ray of sunshine burst into an amalgamation of light, shattering through his pheromone addled mind as the wail of a brother finding his two sisters mangled after a car accident woke him up. Gold danced with red, until he smelled the unmistakable scent of cinnamon, breaking him completely from the allure of instinctual crimson.  
“Let them through.” He heard as his head was flooded with sharp cinnamon, trying to subjugate him through unrelenting attacks. He followed suit with his own call of nutmeg, refusing to bow beneath the attempt for conquest. He let it cover the room, like a carpet that welcomed you home, comfort dripping from his spice. He wouldn’t let the other alpha win just because he wanted to fight, on the contrary, he just wanted to be near his mates.  
Plural.  
He had more than one. He didn’t understand why one of them wanted to fight against him right now, since they both wanted to be near their omega. It was simple. Just follow what the instincts told. He walked forward and watched his mate whimper and then be shrouded in a blanket of cinnamon. He let his scent of nutmeg weave into the blanket, huffing at the growl his alpha mate let out. He bared his teeth, his own growl slinking out in answer to the aggression. He watched his mate curl his lip for a snarl until a tiny hand pulled his attention away, and the saccharine vanilla and honey laced the edges of the cinnamon nutmeg blanket. Their omega was limp, and his alpha mate tucked him in his lap, protectively encircling him. His alpha was preening at the sight, the two of his mates creating a seed of fulfillment.  
He got down, his legs spreading like a vine so his two mates were pressed against him completely. His muscular arms twined and pulled his alpha mate into his embrace, a quiet hum of satisfaction to see him move for him as he too pressed his nose into the one of the glands on their omega mate. He felt his mate shiver and then produce one of the most gratifying noises. His other mate followed with a silvery croon, and the seed of fulfilment he had was quickly an inflorescence. A croaking stutter of serenity echoed in his chest, his tone quiet like a hum to a sleeping animal. A balance of tranquility had been struck between the trio.  
Hinata was purring. Kuroo was crooning. Bokuto was cooing.

# ¯\\_( ͠° ͟ʖ °͠ )_/¯

# 

Kenma’s eyes roamed around the room, taking in the information around him as he kept an arm around Hinata, his mind working quickly. Oikawa helped him bring Hinata to the floor, exchanging a quiet glance with Kenma. It was hitting him harder than anyone actually expected. Had his mom just never taken off this collar? That would be the only thing that seemed to explain why his body was reacting this way. Unless- Kenma’s head snapped up, with barely enough time to call out for Akaashi who grabbed Sugawara and stood in front of the pair when the first growls were heard. “Tch.” He clicked his tongue, annoyance written on his face. “Mates.” Oikawa’s eyes widened as he pressed on Hinata’s arms to keep him still. “More than one?” Oikawa questioned, looking down at the omega already shining with sweat. One of his hands reached up and he gently moved Hinata’s bangs from his forehead, trying to use his strawberry scent to calm him down, to no avail. He hadn’t even reacted to Oikawa’s scent.  
Daichi stood next to Sugawara, Iwaizumi going around the sides as he stalked Kuroo, ready to pounce if he made any move that rubbed him the wrong way. Tsukishima’s arm was in front of Yamaguchi, the joking atmosphere that had built up with the betas gone as tension swallowed the room. It was the most basic rule, you weren’t supposed to get between ANYONE and their mate, but it was more prevalent when it was an alpha and their mate. “Stupid animal brains.” Tsukishima mumbled under his breath, silver outlining his eyes as he looked at the rest of the betas, who had frozen in place, debating on protecting the omega they had just met and staying out of the way of Kuroo. Eventually Tanaka and Nishinoya joined the group in the middle, Hanamaki and Matsukawa already there at the behest of Iwaizumi who had more or less grunted and then glared at them. Kageyama just stared, not moving from his spot near the door. He seemed to think that there were already too many people surrounding the omega anyway, and he doubted that his presence would make that much of a difference, PLUS what would his coach say if he hurt himself?  
Nodding to himself he leaned on the wall, eyes looking down at his nails as he proceeded to file them down. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi also stayed where they were, but their eyes were fixed on the scene in front of them, surprise echoing in their voices at the same time when they realized both Kuroo and Bokuto were reacting to the omega. It was rare to see someone have more than one mate, but it wasn’t unheard of. Each mate always seemed to bring what the others were missing, like pieces of a puzzle they called each other until they were snugly connected, and although Tsukishima would never in a million years admit this out loud, it was oddly always a masterpiece. “Bokuto, Kuroo, STOP. Now.” Daichi’s voice was wavering but loud, as if he was deciding to pull the pack leader voice out. “Those two? Poor Shouyou.” Kenma muttered to Oikawa, who snickered and lifted his weight off of Hinata, just as the omega curdled the blood of the omegas near him with a sound far from the whimpers he had been letting loose. They recognized this cry, this pain filled screech that spoke of broken loneliness.  
Akaashi was glowering at Bokuto, who had just tried to break past Daichi and Sugawara despite the warning from Daichi. He fixed his friend with his steely gaze, a warning in his chest that seemed to get through to him right as the lament pleaded for attention, an ease of the pain the omega was feeling. The room was heavy with the scents of alpha and stressed omega, though every now and then they all caught wafts of burnt vanilla, frayed and rife with worry. Akaashi glanced back at Kenma who had apparently decided that the risk of the alphas hurting another member of the pack outweighed the damage they would do if they didn’t touch their mate soon.  
“Let them through.”  
Kenma’s voice was a respite from the stagnant tension and the wall of people warily created a door, allowing Bokuto and Kuroo room to pass. Kenma moved by Akaashi, his fingers twitching and his face twisting up, clearly not wanting to leave Hinata’s side, but knowing that it was better to let Kuroo and Bokuto do whatever they were gonna do as his mates. Akaashi looked down at the twitching fingers of the smaller omega, and before he could think better of it, he gently wrapped his right hand over Kenma’s left. Avoiding Kenma’s gaze he turned to the trio on the floor, the whimpers having decreased in their frequency at Kuroo’s presence, accompanied by Bokuto soon after.  
Daichi and Sugawara were leaning against each other, watchful eyes drinking in the information before them, both already planning ahead like dutiful parents. A quiet hum from Sugawara and a grunt from Daichi were all the two needed to know they wrote on the same page, Hinata wasn’t going anywhere. And they absolutely needed to have a conversation about what was going on here. A nudge from Daichi and a nod from Sugawara. Daichi was gonna have to call his idiot cousin, who had just recently joined his own pack and grown suspiciously close to two of them according to the nervous laughter from the last phone call. It wasn’t confirmed but Daichi had a feeling that Eijun would know more about this situation than anyone else Daichi knew.  
Iwaizumi had an arm around Oikawa’s neck, his fingers hanging loosely until a familiar hand found its way upwards, filling the empty spaces with his slender fingers. Gentle lips brushed his knuckles followed by a content sigh. Iwaizumi was always reminded just how much he adored the disgustingly pretty man next to him in moments like these, moments when he wasn’t talking. It was always so nice when Oikawa was quiet. “I can hear you thinking about me~” Came the teasing tone from his partner, causing Iwaizumi to scrunch his face up, lips twisted in disgust as he scoffed. “In your dreams, Shittykawa.” Oikawa smirked, pressing Iwaizumi’s thumb to his own bottom lip. “You are definitely thinking about me in my dreams.” A wink and then his attention was back on the three on the floor, missing as Iwaizumi’s face flushed a brilliant red. The tension that was choking the room was gone like smoke, carried off by the sounds of serene comfort from all three. The entire pack let out a collective sigh, visibly relaxing as they deemed the crisis to have been averted.  
Kenma and Akaashi kept their pinkies locked as Kenma pulled out his phone, eyes scanning the messages that lit up his screen, clearing the notifications about the newest comments on his new video. Scrolling further until he reached the end of his notifications, he let out an annoyed huff and put his phone back. As he huffed out, the rest of the room seemed to move, dispersing to their own rooms. As eventful as this had been, nobody wanted to risk setting off the alphas, and they all seemed to have the same idea of maintaining quiet.  
“ASAHI!!!!! I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO COME HOME!!!”  
Well, most of them wanted to maintain the quiet. Nishinoya was chattering happily on his phone, pulling Tanaka with him up the stairs. Kageyama had already vanished to his room, determined to ignore everything that had gone down until he had gotten sleep.  
Matsukawa and Hanamaki were also heading to the stairs, a frown on Matsukawa’s face until Oikawa called out to him, Iwaizumi not far behind. “If you frown that hard you’ll ruin the only thing going for you as an idol Mattsun.” Hanamaki quickly covered his mouth, muffling his giggles. Matsukawa rolled his eyes and looked at Iwaizumi, who met his gaze. “Get your fucking dog, bitch.” Full blown cackling from Hanamaki as he ran up the stairs, Matsukawa and Iwaizumi following close behind, peals of laughter and grunts heard below as Oikawa took off his shirt and threw it at Matsukawa. "How dare you!" Oikawa screeched, his voice fading as he walked up the stairs.  
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi finally moved, a sigh coming from the taller of the two as Yamaguchi mumbled over what happened walking towards the room they shared at the other end of the house.  
Kenma and Akaashi stood still, both of them watching the three on the floor, unwilling to let Hinata out of their sight just yet until Sugawara laid a hand on both of their backs. “He’ll still be here if you go and rest you know.” A grin as he nudged them both away from Hinata. “He might even tell us about his major. Maybe he’s in one of your fields?” Akaashi and Kenma looked at each other, eyes widening ever so slightly before nodding, still reluctant to go but also deciding to listen to the pack mom. Their thumbs brushed together before they let their hands fall, separating as Akaashi went up the stairs and Kenma dragged his feet towards his room.  
Sugawara put one of his hands on his hips, looking towards Daichi and pointing with his free hand to the mates still on the floor. Daichi scrunched up his face but nodded all the same. “Kuroo.” A growl as a head lifted up and looked at the leader. “Hinata wanted to take a shower earlier.” The growl cut off as Kuroo looked down at the omega who was still purring and very out of it. Bokuto looked up at this statement as well, his golden eyes shimmering. “We’ll take care of him.” Sugawara opened his mouth to object but shut his mouth just as quickly when both of the alphas fixed their eyes on him, leaving no room for argument. He sighed and gave in, taking Daichi’s hand and walking towards their room before he turned back. “Wake me up if you need something.” He paused again. “I shouldn’t hear anything other than water, understood?” With his signature smile holding a bit more ice than normal, Daichi tugged him away, closing the door with an awkward smile.  


# ♡☛☚♡

# 

Bokuto’s face was riddled with confusion, looking at Kuroo for answers. “Why would there be more noises? I mean we have to put him in the water and stuff. Are we gonna have to cover his mouth to keep him from making noises so Suga doesn’t get mad?” Kuroo blinked before he snorted, lifting one of his hands from around Hinata to poke Bokuto in the forehead. “I think he was trying to make sure we don’t take advantage of him.” Bokuto leaned back, disgust overtaking his confusion. “Why would we do that? He doesn’t even know who we are!” Kuroo shrugged, his big hand resting on the mop of orange still in his lap. “I think it’s because mates sometimes think they’re entitled to their partner’s autonomy?” He sighed. “I can’t even imagine anything like that right now, I just want to wash his hair for him.” Bokuto nodded and moved back, cracking his knuckles as he did so. “Come on then.” He stood up and leaned down, picking up the omega from the arms of Kuroo, nuzzling the top of Hinata’s head as he did so. Hinata let out a small whimper but then a sigh as Bokuto rubbed his head, body still like a cooked noodle.  
Kuroo was shocked at the loss of warmth but stood up soon after, surprised that he didn’t growl at Bokuto. “I think my alpha is getting used to the whole two mates thing.” Bokuto looked back, walking to the bathroom as he did so. “I think it was more your brain than your alpha, bro. It’s just instincts. If you hadn’t tried to fight it, you probably would have been down for it immediately.” Bokuto pushed open the bathroom with his foot, leaving a stunned Kuroo following behind. Bokuto was too simple sometimes, but he usually made a ridiculous amount of sense. Kuroo ran his fingers through his hair before sliding past Bokuto and turning on the water so it could warm up. Bokuto set Hinata down on the floor, his hands cupping the small boy's face. “Hinata? I know you’re kind of out of it right now, but I’m gonna take off your shirt okay? I have to take off your pants too but I’ll leave your underwear on so you aren’t too exposed okay?” His eyes stayed on Hinata’s who were still unfocused and hazy but Bokuto waited for a response patiently. Kuroo watched how gentle Bokuto was being and a smile ghosted over his face as he got one of the cups next to the faucet and put a little bit of water in it. Pouring it over the top of Hinata’s head, his smile grew at the tiny yelp from the omega, his eyes clearing up a little more as Bokuto repeated his questions. Hinata gave a tiny nod and Bokuto broke out with his own grin, pulling the shirt off of Hinata as he did so. Hinata let it all happen, still drunk on the scents of his mates. Bokuto pulled Hinata’s pants off and looked up at Kuroo who was dipping his hands in the water to make sure it was warm.  
Kuroo tilted the knob more to the hot side and then gave his approval, picking up Hinata and gently placing him in the water. Hinata tensed up and let out a small hiss, causing Kuroo to snort out a laugh as he patted his head. “Hush now kitten, it’s just water.” Bokuto took off his shoes and socks and climbed in the tub next to Hinata, going around him until he was in front. “Water and me!” He grinned again, pushing down his shirt and watching the bubbles that floated up from the action. Kuroo sighed loudly, filling up the cup to pour it on Hinata again. “Why did you get in with all your clothes on Bokuto?” Bokuto tilted his head, one of his hands reaching up and grabbing his soap. “We have to clean him somehow. You’re doing his hair, so I’ll take care of everything else.” He rolled his eyes. “Obviously.” Kuroo poured the water on Hinata, his free hand running through the orange hair to spread the warmth all over. Sarcasm decorated his words as he responded “Sometimes you’re really smart.”  
Bokuto slapped the water. “OOOH! YOU’RE PRAISING ME?” Kuroo threw the rest of the water at Bokuto. “Shhh!” He hissed out, looking towards the door. “You’re gonna make Suga come in here.” Bokuto sobered up quickly at the thought of the silver haired omega coming in, a shudder overtaking him. If there was one thing that terrified everyone into behaving, it was Sugawara. “Mmm.” The hum from their omega pulled them back from their thoughts and they got to work, quieting as they focused on their mate. Bokuto went to the other side of the tub, his pants heavy as he stood up to get one of the washcloths hanging up. Sitting back down he crawled back in front of Hinata, deciding to fill the silence with chatter. “So, Hinata, I’m gonna make you smell like my soap, I hope that’s okay.” He poured his Old Spice Hawkridge onto the washcloth. “To be fair, we don’t know where Makki put your bags though so if you had really important soaps and stuff you can just use them later.” He sidled up in front of Hinata, taking one of his arms as he began cleaning him gently. “Some people can’t use scented stuff because their noses are really sensitive but I just picked the one with the coolest looking bird on it. It just happens to smell good too. I was really upset they didn’t have an owl though.” He moved down Hinata’s arm, focusing on cleaning each of his fingers. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything to clean your nails with right now, I’ll have to ask Akaashi to borrow his file. To be fair he’d probably want to do it for you himself, he’s really nice like that.”  
Listening to Bokuto talk soothed Kuroo as he finished wetting Hinata’s head, getting up and walking to the standing shower, grabbing his Aussie shampoo and conditioner. Bokuto quieted down as he focused on his task, making sure that every inch of Hinata was covered in soap. Hinata whimpered and tried to pull away when he tried to clean the dried blood from his nail marks earlier, the soap seeping into the broken skin. Bokuto paused but kept a loose hold on Hinata, golden eyes flicking upward to make eye contact with hazel ones. “You know, I bought my shampoo with my eyes closed for no reason other than Kenma asked me to do so.” Kuroo took over talking, pumping shampoo in his left hand before bringing his hands together and then gently running his fingers through the orange, untangling as he worked it into a lather. “Kenma said it was for his YouTube but he never posted it, so I think he just wanted to see if I would do what he asked.” A pause as he got more shampoo on his hand and went back to work. “Totally unfair of him to use our years of friendship like that.” He sighed dramatically and rinsed his hands in the water, filling up the cup right after he did so. Hinata stirred a little more as a hand tilted his head back and he blinked blearily until a face came into focus, immediately disappearing as water and shampoo careened towards his eyes.  
“GEH!”  
He pulled his head up, ripping free from Bokuto and Kuroo as he tried to rub the shampoo out, making it worse as the soap mixed in. Kuroo was snickering loudly as Bokuto tried to get him to stop rubbing his eyes, stuttering as giggles bubbled from him, finally grabbing onto Hinata’s hands and dipping them into the water. His shoulders continued to shake as he called out for Kuroo to rinse his eyes, Hinata stilled enough for the water to splash forward clearing his eyes but leaving the sting of a soap inferno, creating a red hue as he blinked excessively and sat up. Finally taking in the surroundings and the fact that he was able to have full mobility of his limbs he squinted his eyes and looked at Kuroo who sat outside the tub smirking at him, and Bokuto who sat inside the tub and was pushing down his shirt again. Moving back to the spot he was in originally, he slowly sank back down, rubbing his cheek as he did so. “Sorry..” His voice was miniscule, echoing in the silent chamber of porcelain. “I heard you ask me about the bath so I wasn’t surprised at being in it, I was just surprised seeing Kuroo’s face so close.” It was silent for a brief moment before Bokuto cackled and pointed at Kuroo who was jutting out his bottom lip in a pout. “I happen to think I have a handsome face, not a scary one.” His puffed up his chest, face still pouting as he pushed his black hair back, the edges of his hair peeking from beneath his chin and exposing his pierced ears.  
Hinata blinked and tilted his head to the side. “You’re obviously handsome? It was more the fact of how close you were and that it was the first thing I was able to clearly see.” He could feel the tips of his ears flushing but chalked it up to the temperature of the water. Kuroo’s pout grew into a triumphant smirk as he looked at Bokuto, sticking out his tongue at the boy who was still snickering as he shrugged his shoulders. “I need to finish cleaning you up Hinata.” Bokuto jerked his chin to Kuroo. “And he still has to put conditioner in your hair.” Kuroo nodded, holding one of his hands out. “Come on kitten. Just a bit more and then you can go to sleep.” Hinata moved forward and settled into a position that was easy for both of them to work with. “Umm-” His voice cut through the splashing of water as they both got their cleansing liquids out. “Is everyone okay? That was a more intense necklace release than I usually have. I think it’s because my mom wasn’t the one to take it off but I don’t exactly remember what happened.” He smiled sheepishly, his head lolling to the side as Kuroo’s fingers massaged the conditioner in his scalp. “I just want to make sure I didn’t hurt anyone or anything.” He lowered his voice as if telling a secret. “My mom told me that omegas who can’t control their bodies are more likely to attack people.” A satisfied huff as Kuroo tilted his head to the other side, blunt nails gently scraping the underside of his head and down his neck. “If I did something like that and you guys are worried that you have to treat me nicely to keep me from doing that, you can put the necklace back on! It makes sure I don’t do that.”  
Bokuto’s hands stilled on Hinata’s legs, his head snapping up at the thought of the collar blocking Hinata’s emotions, his scent, him. A rumble in his chest voiced his displeasure and Hinata looked at him quizzically before hands lifted his chin up again, Kuroo’s eyes piercing through the melted chocolate ones that looked up. “You are never going to wear that again.” A statement that reverberated through Hinata’s core, leaving no room for questions. “You didn’t hurt anyone.” A softer tone. “If anything, I would be the one that hurt people, and Bokuto hurt his hand.” Hinata’s nose scrunched up, cheeks puffing out as he thought. “Why?” Kuroo dropped his hand from Hinata’s face, filling the cup with water as he thought about how he was going to explain.  
“You’re our mate.”  
Kuroo dropped the cup. Leave it to Bokuto to state the obvious without explaining anything.  
Hinata hummed as he processed the information. “Oh.”  
_Oh? That was it?_  
Kuroo looked on incredulously as the omega seemed to accept it with startling ease. A feeling akin to dread crept into the pit of his stomach. There was no way both of his mates were morons. Just no way. Kuroo filled up the cup again. “Wait. Both of you?” Kuroo slid back over to them and began rinsing the conditioner out, Bokuto finishing up on the second leg as he answered once again. “Yup. We don’t know why either but you get one very cool and awesome alpha and Kuroo!” Bokuto grinned as he held out two fingers, opening and closing them before leaning forward to soap up his chest. “Hm.” Hinata closed his eyes as Kuroo finished rinsing out the conditioner and pushed him forward, grabbing Bokuto’s soap to work on his back. “You seem very accepting of this whole idea Hinata.” Kuroo’s breath ghosted on the back of Hinata’s neck as he methodically ran his hands over the smaller male’s back. A shiver from Hinata as he answered. “Well I smelled you guys right? You’re the reason why I could calm down so quickly, of course I want to be friends with you!”  
_There it was._  
Kuroo dropped his hands in the water, groaning loudly as he stood up. “Bokuto, finish rinsing him off while I go get one of my shirts for him to wear.” Bokuto popped his head out to the side from in front of Hinata. “Grab my old middle school boxers for him too! I think they’ll fit!” Kuroo made a disgusted face. “You’re a heathen. Why would you keep those?” Bokuto shrugged his shoulders. “I just never threw them out. Besides they’re coming in handy now so why does it matter?” Kuroo fake gagged but walked off just the same, leaving Bokuto to scrub the rest of the grime and dried blood off of Hinata, his fingers feather-like as he scraped the blood around his neck. Hinata ran his tongue over the edges of his teeth, looking at the top of Bokuto’s head as he cleansed his neck.  
“I have my own clothes.” Bokuto shrugged his shoulders. “Neither of us know where the beta bromates put your stuff at. So for now you just gotta wear our stuff until we find out where they hid it tomorrow.” Cupping his hands he splashed the water on Hinata, washing off the soap slowly as he inspected every inch, making sure that he had done a good enough job at cleaning him up. Hinata closed one of his eyes, turning his face as the water hit his chin to prevent a repeat of what happened earlier. “How come you’re wearing all of your clothes?” Bokuto continued with his water, rubbing his hands over certain spots to make sure they were free of soap and dirt. “Well I thought you might get worried if I stripped and got in the tub with you. You don’t know me and you were already without some of your clothes so just in case you didn’t remember what we were doing I didn’t want to surprise you.” He grinned and pushed back his hair, imitating Kuroo’s pose from earlier as his shirt lifted up and bubbles followed him, distinctly NOT mirroring the hotness of Kuroo at all. “Aren’t I smart?” He waggled his eyebrows at Hinata who stared at him before barking out a laugh, surprising himself as he clapped his hands over his mouth. “Sorry-” He mumbled from behind his hand before his giggling started up again, his eyes closing as he looked away from Bokuto, trying to stop himself from laughing. Bokuto’s grin widened as he flexed his muscles when Hinata turned back around, pursing his lips as he sucked his cheeks in which set Hinata off again, his hands falling into the water as peals of laughter made its way out of him, his smile flashing brilliantly as water dripped down his face.  
“Woah.”  
Bokuto spoke before he could stop himself, just as Kuroo walked in and Hinata’s smile was turned towards him and stopped him in his tracks. Drinking in the sunshine directed at him, Kuroo pulled out a towel, handing one to Hinata who was trying to catch his breath as he stood up, unable to look at Bokuto in case he was set off again. “These clothes are for you.” Kuroo held up another towel and another set of clothes. “These are for the idiot who drenched himself without thinking about the consequences.” Bokuto shrugged as he let out the water and pulled off his wet clothes that were suctioned to his body, grimacing at the squelching sound. Hinata draped the towel around him before he slipped off his boxers, letting them hit the floor as he bent down to pick them up. Kuroo held out his hand. “Give them. I’m gonna throw it all in the washer in my room.” Hinata raised his eyebrows and avoided eye contact, his neck flushing red as he handed over his boxers. “Good boy.” A deeper flush as Hinata’s head whipped around at the praise, eyes widening before he dipped his head down and focused on drying his body.  
“Here!” Was all the warning Kuroo got before he felt wet clothes smack the growing smirk off of his face. It was quiet for a brief moment before Hinata once again puffed out his cheeks and his lips began to tremble as he blew out the air inside of him. Another loud smack as Bokuto’s pants hit the side of Kuroo’s face and landed on his shoulder. “Forgot one!” Hinata was snorting now, slapping his skin to imitate the sound of the clothes hitting Kuroo who just stood there, wet clothes hanging from his head and shoulder before he turned and threw Bokuto’s dry clothes at him, walking out just as Hinata reached peak laughter.  
Drying off his hair and body quickly while he was trying to hold back his giddy chuckle, Hinata tugged Bokuto’s old boxers on, his laugh turning into a groan as they fit perfectly. “Stupid middle school body.” He was still pouting as he pulled on Kuroo’s shirt, another groan as his skinny arms poked through the sleeves and he turned around, the neck of the shirt exposing his collarbone and falling off his shoulder as the shirt engulfed him. “I have never felt so small in my life.” His lips were in full pout now as he looked at Bokuto who had already finished changing, his eyes widening as he took in the way the omega looked, orange hair damp, bottom lip poking out and being swallowed by his mates clothes. There was something about this sight that tugged at Bokuto’s heart and he reached out a hand to touch Hinata’s face before reaching past him and grabbing the towel, gently drying the still damp hair of the omega. “You have to make sure you dry your hair all the way or you’ll make the pillows wet.”  
Hinata sighed loudly but stood still until Bokuto was satisfied that he had dried it all the way. Kuroo walked back in just as he was finishing and Hinata turned around, the shirt falling further off his shoulder as his hair fluffed up and he still had a pout on his face. Bokuto caught Kuroo’s attention and pointed at Hinata before clutching his chest. Kuroo looked down at Hinata and immediately understood what he was talking about, nodding emphatically. Hinata scrunched his nose and put one of his hands on hip. “Sorry I don’t exactly fit your clothes.” Kuroo and Bokuto both shook their heads at the same time, Bokuto putting up a thumbs up as Kuroo brought his smirk back. “It’s definitely better like this.” Hinata’s pout dropped for a second. “Better?” Bokuto walked around, throwing the towels in the linen basket and grabbing Hinata’s arm. “He means you look cute wearing our clothes.” Hinata let himself be pulled forward before his face erupted into a fiery red. “C-CCC-CUTE?” He stammered and shrieked out as they walked out of the bathroom, Kuroo turning off the light as Bokuto’s laughter echoed in the house, leading the way to Kuroo’s room. 

# ❧∞❦∞☙

# 

Opening the door Bokuto finally let go of the still very red Hinata and held his arms open. “I don’t know which room is gonna be yours so for tonight you can sleep with Kuroo and I-We have connecting rooms so we both have big beds ‘cause we usually fall asleep in each others rooms ‘cause we have similar majors and practice with each other but we’ll just sleep together with you if you want.” Hinata’s face blanked as he took in the information and he stepped forward into the room, Kuroo coming in behind him and closing the door. “Or you can sleep in Bokuto’s room and he’ll sleep in here if you don’t want to sleep with people you just met. It doesn’t matter if we’re mates or not, you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to do it.” Kuroo’s voice reverberated over Hinata’s head and he looked up to see a soft look behind hazel eyes. Hinata chewed on his bottom lip as he thought, breathing in deeply as he did so. The smell of cinnamon was prominent everywhere but there was also nutmeg seeping through, his red face fading to a light pink as closed his eyes and felt comfort dancing around his muscles.  
“Is it okay if I sleep with you both?” His voice was small, prepared to accept sleeping alone if he was rejected. “I don’t really like being by myself at night..” He was reminded of the cold room back at the old house and his face blanched, not unnoticed by his mates. “Duh! We JUST said you could!” Bokuto called out as he jumped on the bed and Kuroo picked Hinata up like a bride ignoring the yelp from the omega, he flicked off the light with his elbow and walked to the bed, nuzzling the neck of the omega as he set him down and Bokuto pulled him towards the middle of the bed. Hinata sucked his breath as he was moved from one alpha to the next to keep from making noise. Kuroo climbed in right after and sidled up on the other side of the omega, letting his breath out as he pulled the covers over them and curled up. Hinata had both of his arms by his side, stiff as the two alphas next to him were getting comfortable. The moment the both of them stilled and Hinata tensed more, nutmeg and cinnamon hit him instantly, as if they knew he was nervous and he felt himself relax involuntarily.  
“Are you sure you both aren’t omegas? You both have really good scents, but it’s different from theirs.” He hummed trying to figure out how to explain what he meant. “They just smelt like pleasant comfort, but you smell like warm security?” He could feel himself burning as he talked and he lifted his hands up to cover his face in the dark, though his own sugar scent betrayed him and he heard Bokuto chuckle next to him. “That’s because we’re your mates Hinata.” Hinata let out an exasperated sigh behind his hands. “I know you’re my friends-” Kuroo cut him off. “No, your MATES. As in soul linked. As in we’re meant to be together.” A beat. Then another. Burnt vanilla quickly soaked through as Hinata sat up, anger in his voice. “That’s not funny, Kuroo. My mom said that I had to have a scent in order to have a mate, and even on the off chance that I did have one, it was rare for a male omega to even have a mate because they’re not desirable.” He stopped to catch his breath and breathed in burnt vanilla, scrunching up his nose.  
‘Why does it smell so sweet now? It was just spice--” Hinata closed his mouth and sniffed his arm. He took in another deep sniff as violet flashed, confirming what he thought. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh-” He covered his mouth, still sitting up. “Not beef, but vanilla.” Bokuto bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing as Kuroo added, “And honey.” Hinata stuck out his tongue, licking the air as if trying to taste it. “I’m just sweet?” Hinata tilted his head as the two alphas answered in unison. “We know.” Hinata’s face bloomed like a rose, grateful he was sitting up and away from their eyes.  
“I don’t know why your mom said what she did, but all of that is bullshit. Suga and Daichi have been mates for as long as we’ve known them, and Iwaizumi and Oikawa have been mates since they were practically kids. That’s two male omegas desired by alphas.” Bokuto rolled over and held his hand up, counting on his fingers as he continued speaking. “Kenma and Akaashi are male omegas extremely desired by others. If we include you, that’s five male omegas who drip desirability.” He brought his hand down. “About that stupid idea of you having to have a scent, how do you explain the three beta couples that are mated?” Bokuto sighed. “That’s just in our pack, Hinata.” His eyes faintly glowed red as he fixed them on the omega who had turned to look at him while he was talking. “You are our mate. It doesn’t matter what she told you before, this is now. You smelling our scents should already be proof enough, but we’ll show you every day until you believe us instead of her.” Bokuto’s eyes glowed brighter as if agreeing with his determination and Hinata looked away, only to be captivated by more red, Kuroo showing that he agreed with the sentiment Bokuto had just voiced. Violet outlined his own eyes as the burnt vanilla disappeared and was replaced with a thick coat of cinnamon and nutmeg, honey cautiously slipping out from him at their promise before the normal vanilla was back. The alphas both shuddered at the honey, choking down their separate scents that wanted to make an appearance instead of their normal ones.  
Hinata chewed the inside of his bottom lip, nodding to himself before he laid back down in between Kuroo and Bokuto. “Sorry for getting mad at you Kuroo.” His voice was soft, laced with sheepish apologies. “You’re allowed to have feelings, Hinata. Whatever emotions you have, we’ll take them all.” Kuroo nudged forward, eyes dimming back down as he got comfortable again. “Every single one.” Bokuto breathed out in agreeance, silence following him afterwards until-  
“Can I hug you Hinata?”  
Hinata blinked and turned his head to Bokuto just as Kuroo asked if he could hug him too. Once again he felt heat creeping up to his face from his neck as he contemplated their question. Slowly he nodded and Kuroo grinned, placing his nose by Hinata’s ear, blowing gently into it. “You gotta say it out loud, kitten.” Hinata bit the inside of his cheek as he let out a squeak and covered his face. “YES. You can hug me.” His voice was muffled and dripping with awkward shyness before he closed his eyes and reached his hands out preparing to be hugged. Bokuto laughed and slipped one arm underneath the omega’s waist, draping his other arm over Hinata’s stomach burying his face in the crook of his neck. “Good job.” Kuroo’s voice held a playful edge as he stuck his arm under Hinata’s neck, his hand digging into Bokuto’s hair as he rested his cheek on top of Hinata’s head. His other arm fell next to Bokuto’s and he let out a sigh as he nuzzled further into the omega, his fingers brushing against Bokuto’s. Hinata was blinking, still holding his arms up as the two wrapped him up in their arms. “This is a hug?” His voice broke the silence and Kuroo snorted. “It’s similar to one.”  
Hinata hummed and brought down his hands but paused as he tried to figure out where to place them. Puffing out his cheeks he brought down his left hand and grabbed Bokuto’s index finger hesitantly, unsure if it was okay. Before he could ask, Bokuto tilted his hand up and grabbed Hinata’s hand, lacing their fingers as he laid his palm on the top of Hinata’s hand so Hinata’s palm rested against his own stomach. Bringing down his right hand he nervously touched Kuroo’s fingers and he responded by hooking their fingers loosely, his hand laying on the side of Hinata’s hand instead of directly on top of it. Hinata let out the deep breath he had been holding, his cheeks losing their puff as he did so. Bokuto smiled against his neck and Kuroo smiled into his hair. A sleepiness unlike any before quickly overtook Hinata and he yawned quietly. “Two..” He murmured into his yawn. “I have two mates..” His voice was nearly inaudible as tranquil sleep overtook him, another purr reverberating as he did so. Bokuto was quickly after him, lulled by the purr and Kuroo’s thumb gently swiping against his scalp. Kuroo was the last one, breathing out his contentment with one final thought.  
His mates were both undeniably simple and enchanting morons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and scene.
> 
> Seriously thank you guys SO much for the support on twitter, in the comments, and just in general. Knowing that people are enjoying this is just,, truly blessed content. 
> 
> Also, possible crossover and spin off with the daiya characters? WHO KNOWS? NOT ME.


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